1. The Sarawak government did not abide by national and international standards in implementing mega projects that will cause negative impacts to the environment and people. The SEIA and EIA are supposed to be done before the project begins but for the Murum dam case, the SEIA for the resettlement is only tendered out now and usually will take between 6 months to a year to be completed, notwithstanding the government red tape(s).
This is also contrary to the government statements that the EIA and SEIA for the dam has been completed before implementation. It seems that the government operate on their SOP of Build, Design and Consult (in that order)
2. The second point is that the people does has the power to intervene if they want to. The people now have to look after themselves as their elected reps does not seem to have the power to look after his electorates' interest and needs. While the current government says that demo and protest are not our culture, the people has limited avenue to express their needs. and it works!
So Mr. Government, please be more transparent and proactive, DO NOT be always reactive!
Please read Sarawak Report exposure : "GENOCIDE ! – Murum’s Secret “Resettlement Action Plan” Revealed – EXCLUSIVE EXPOSE"
"We can disclose that shocking revelations from a leaked report are what lie behind the massive road block at the Murum Dam site, where scores of lorries have been brought to a grinding halt by Penan tribespeople.
The impoverished hunter-gatherers mounted the desperate protest in response to learning key details of the resettlement and compensation plans, drawn up by the Government for when their homes are soon flooded by rising waters.
The plans were disgracefully kept secret until they were leaked to Sarawak Report earlier this week.
The secrecy was in defiance of international protocols, which require full consultation and disclosure to affected peoples before construction even begins.
Murum itself was of course also kept secret during the first two years of the dam’s construction, during which time Taib ravaged the jungle and blew tunnels through a sacred mountain area without permission.
But even now that this disgraceful project is in the open, our exclusive copy of the so-called “Resettlement Action Plan” for the native Western Penan shows that promises of fair and decent compensation amount to nothing less than the systematic ethnic genocide of these ancient hunter-gatherers."
Via Borneo Independent News Service
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- Kami Rakyat Sarawak Mahu Taib Berundur
