DAMN Dam!

Ever heard of Kaiduan Dam? Read this article below; though it's an old one, yet this case is still ongoing and 11 villages might be the victim of the government's monopoly game that is so undemocratic.

Monday, 05 October 2009 10:37

STATE PKR Treasurer and Deputy Chief PKR Penampang, Sabah, Dr Roland Chia urged the government immediately to stop planning and implementing the most talk about RM2.8 billion Kaiduan Dam Project that is affected our community in Upper Moyog, Penampang. The dam as claimed is suppose to provide supply of fresh water and generation of 37MW electricity to Kota Kinabalu at the expense of the villagers . The view of the 2,000 villagers of at least 11 villages have been repeatedly ignored and sidelined. If the proposed dam project were to carry on , it would flood 11 villages, including their community which has been in existence for hundreds of years. They welcome and appreciated the community work by NGOs PACOS in providing micro-hydro electrical power but not big conglomerates taking over their lands. During a visit to Kg Timbangan Laut Sugud, with Penampang PKR leaders and members, Dr Roland Chia heard the plea and cry of the people, and the villagers wants an outright rejection and also demanded the government and the elected BN MP concern, a senior party leader of a component party to protect the residents’ rights over the ancestral land. They claimed, they voted for him is to protect their rights and their land and not to rob them of even their ancestral land. Dr Roland Chia and entourage was suppose to move on to Kg Babagon Laut and Kg Timbayasa but was hampered by very bad road conditions. To make matters worst, there is totally poor planning and outright arrogance of the implementers of the project because the proposal to build the dam at the Ulu Papar river where there are 11 villages in its vicinity, instead of the Mandalipau river, where there are none. The two rivers are the main tributaries of the Papar river. One of the villagers claimed that the dam, when constructed, would submerge 12 sq km of forest, houses, agricultural land and even the burial grounds of their ancestors. "The dam is said to be three times larger than the Babagon Dam that was completed in 1997," he said, adding that in the process, the waters would submerge the ancestral lands of at least 11 villages. The kampungs affected will be from Terian, Babagon Laut, Timpayasah, Tiku, Buayan, Pongobonon, Kionop, Timpangoh, Kalanggaan, Kaiduan and Bisuang. Of the 11 villages, three are reachable by dirt road on dry days, while the rest are only accessible by foot. This definitely does not augur well with the Prime Minister slogan, “Rakyat didahulukan dan pencapaian diutamakan’. Friends, i urge u all to sign this petition, do surf upon it later, thanx: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/stop-kaiduan-dam