Seeking divine aid to thwart dam project

2009/09/24

PENAMPANG, Sabah: A group of village elders in the remote Kampung Buayan near here gathered for a special prayer here recently.

They sought divine intervention over a proposed dam project which, if implemented, would flood 11 villages, including their community which has been in existence for hundreds of years.

Word began spreading among the 2,000-odd residents of the villages, located within the district here and neighbouring Papar, about the RM2.8 billion Kaiduan Dam project since the middle of the year.

Over the weekend, residents from eight of the affected villages met to deliberate on the proposal.

The verdict was an outright rejection, along with a pledge to protect the residents' rights over their ancestral land.

The irony of the issue is over 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.

Villagers at Kampung Buayan, Penampang, saying no to a proposed dam project.

The two rivers are the main tributaries of the Papar river.

During the gathering, an action committee was also formed to protest against the plan aimed at supplying water and generating electricity for Kota Kinabalu.

Committee chairman Nousi Giun said 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 meeting over the weekend was attended by representatives from Terian, Babagon Laut, Timpayasah, Tiku, Buayan, Pongobonon, Kionop and Timpangoh.

The other affected villages are 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.

"From information gathered, the proposed dam can supply Kota Kinabalu with fresh water until 2050 and a hydroelectric power station that can generate up to 37MW of electricity. However, we are sceptical about the rationale behind the construction of this dam," he said.

Kampung Buayan farmer Jolius Mositun, 53, said that while there were no roads leading to his village, "we can live with that".

"But to flood our homes and force us to move elsewhere, that is unacceptable."

Alexander Piloh, 43, who works at the district council here but returns to the "hills" every weekend, said the proposal came just as the villagers were beginning to savour the feeling of development coming their way.

"In May, a dirt road finally reached my village (Kampung Terian) after all these years of independence. Now, others see it fit for it to be flooded. All our lives we had to walk in and out of jungles, cross rivers and climb hills to earn some money. Is this fair?"

He said people in the hills were religious and liked the peaceful surroundings.