![]() ![]() How will the dams impact Sarawak’s Indigenous Peoples? Access to independent media is restricted, particularly in remote areas, meaning that communities to be affected by dams have very little information about the projects other than that conveyed by government and company representatives. In Sarawak, thousands of Indigenous People have not been issued identity cards, and therefore are denied access to basic health care, education, public services and the right to vote. Many Malaysian court rulings in favor of Indigenous Peoples' rights are not upheld in Sarawak, while violations of rights outlined in the national constitution are rampant. The Sarawak government does not fully recognize indigenous people’s claims to traditional lands and also has powers to extinguish customary land rights with little prior notification. Legal protections for Indigenous People living in Sarawak are weak. Indigenous groups meet in Sarawak to discuss the proposed dams (May 2013). ![]() The details of this plan have not been made available to the public. According to Taib, SCORE will attract industrial investments to “transform Sarawak into a developed state” by 2020. ![]() The dams are part of what the Sarawak government calls the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE) initiative. While the Bakun Dam is not running at full capacity, the completed Murum Dam is not functioning at all. Together, the series of proposed dams would produce a total of 7,000 MW of electricity in Sarawak, although local energy demand is only projected to reach 1,500 MW by 2020. T he economic justification for the Sarawak dams does not add up. as well as to anti-corruption bodies internationally, including the Norwegian anti-corruption agency (Økokrim). Taib and his family not only hold controlling shares in the majority of Sarawak businesses but also have acquired ownership of companies and properties in North America, Europe and Australia.Charges of corruption against Taib and the Sarawak Energy Berhad have been brought to the attention oft the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission. An investigation in March 2013 by Global Witness recorded several members of Taib’s family openly discussing corruption in the timber and land industry. In addition to being the main proponent of the hydro projects, Taib and his family have a controlling ownership stake in many of the local companies involved in the dams, such as Sarawak’s largest construction company Cahya Mata Sarawak Berhad, and also maintain control over Sarawak Energy Bhd. As of March 2014, Taib stepped into the post of Governor of Sarwak, and his former brother-in-law took over as Chief Minister. From 1981 until February 2014, the head of the Sarawak government was Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud. Well documented evidence suggests that corruption is driving the rapid development of the dams in Sarawak. Watch the video "Damming our Future" by The Borneo Project.Sign the Petition to Stop the Sarawak Dams!.The national Indigenous Peoples network, Jaringan Orang Asal SeMalaysia, along with SAVE Rivers and the national human rights organization, SUARAM, are helping to strengthen an emerging movement of Indigenous People affected by - and opposing - mega-dams in Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia and to bring national attention to the ongoing rights violations at dam project resettlement sites. To demonstrate their opposition to the dams and demand that their right to free, prior and informed consent be respected, Indigenous People in Sarawak are organizing events in urban centres, such as Kuching and Kuala Lumpur, and also in their communities where the dams are being planned. In 2011, local indigenous leaders formed a grassroots movement called the SAVE Rivers Network to raise awareness and how the dams will harm forest-dependent communities.Īlthough the Bakun Dam is not operating at full capacity due to lack of demand for the energy, and the resettlement scheme has been widely acknowledged as a failure, the Sarawak government and SEB are proceeding with preparatory surveys and land acquisitions for additional dam projects. Together, the dams will flood over 2,100 square kilometers of forest. The construction of additional dams will lead to the dispossession of tens of thousands of Indigenous Peoples and irreversible devastation to the biodiversity of Sarawak’s ecosystems. ![]() 10,000 Indigenous People were displaced to make way for the Bakun Dam. The Sarawak government plans to complete at least 10 more dams by 2020 with the help of its state-owned company, Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB). More recently, the 944 MW Murum Dam was completed, but is not yet operational due to technical design flaws. In 2011, the Malaysian and Sarawak governments finished building the controversial Bakun Dam. Sarawak’s rivers are also being sacrificed in the race to generate quick profits. Indigenous people protest against the Sarawak dams (May 2013) ![]()
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