Sabah Natives Bring Fight Against Dam Project To Putrajaya

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A group of Sabah natives came to Putrajaya today to hand over memorandums opposing the Papar Dam project to the Prime Minister’s Office and several other ministries
They also cried foul against the Sabah government for allegedly reneging on their election promise by rebranding the project instead of cancelling it after winning the 14th general election
Taskforce Against Kaiduan/Papar Dam (Takad) chairperson Diana Sipail said the Papar Dam project is the same as the Kaiduan Dam project that was announced by the previous state government in 2008
Diana said the location and size of both dams are about the same, despite the name change

She said the group, which had been campaigning against the dam projects for 10 years, had campaigned for Pakatan Harapan and Warisan during the 14th general election because the group had been won over by their promise to cancel Kaiduan Dam
“So, after they won and took office in May last year; come August, the Sabah Infrastructure Development Ministry announced the project would continue as Papar Dam
“It’s the same location, putting the same people underwater, displacing the same people, the same river, and there is no change at all,” she lamented to Malaysiakini in Putrajaya today
Ten Dusun folk from Sabah, seven Orang Asli from Peninsular Malaysia, and several environmental activists were present in Putrajaya today
Diana said the construction of the dam would inundate Sabah natives’ customary land and villages, as well as destroy existing forests
In addition, over 3,000 native people in Penampang and Papar districts would have to be resettled in an unfamiliar land and change their lifestyles
She said the group had sent a memorandum of protest to then Sabah chief minister Musa Aman in April 2010, only to send another memorandum to the current Chief Minister Shafie Apdal
Since it did not receive any response from the state government, the group opted to bring their cause to the Prime Minister’s Office, the Energy, Science, Technology, Environment, and Climate Change Ministry (Mestecc), the Water, Land, and Natural Resources Ministry, and the office of the minister in charge of the National Unity and Integration Department, today
The memorandums were received by Deputy Mestecc Minister Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis, and senior officials of other ministries
“This is the first time we have brought our cause to Putrajaya in ten years,” Diana said
The group is also planning to send a memorandum to the UN Development Programme in a bid to garner international attention to their plight
Meanwhile, Terian Village Community Management Council chairperson Nelson Raymond said that if the dam is built, five villages would be inundated while another four would also be affected
Among the affected villages are Longkogungan, Kalanggaan, Pongobonon and Kionop, which are located upstream along Sungai Papar. Downstream are Buayan, Tiku, Timpayasa, Babagon, and Terian villages, which would become inundated
Nelson said Shafie had promised to put a stop to Kaiduan Dam, only to announce the Papar Dam a few months later
“It is very disappointing,” he said
On Aug 3 last year, Sabah Infrastructure Development Minister Peter Anthony announced that Papar Dam would be built near Kampung Bisuang, Papar
The RM2 billion dam would be between 150 to 200 metres high and inundate 522ha of land
Later on Oct 31, 2018, Shafie said the project would proceed despite opposition from community groups and NGOs. He said the state cabinet had approved the decision to meet the needs of the state’s growing population and tourism industry
On June 28 this year, Bernama quoted Shafie saying that the state had never promised to cancel the Papar Dam project
He said the Warisan-led state government had only promised to cancel the Kaiduan Dam project approved by the previous BN-led administration due to stern opposition by various parties including local communities
The Papar Dam project is not the same as Kaiduan Dam, he said, because Kaiduan Dam is located in the Penampang district while the Papar Dam is located in the Papar district

- Mkini

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