KOTA KINABALU: Sabah state government has been urged to hold a dialogue with stakeholders, including non-governmental organisations (NGOs), to further discuss proposal on the use of coal-fired power stations.
Sabah Environmental Protection Association (SEPA) president Lanash Thanda said many parties were against the coal plant project since 2007 and the strong objection culminated in a coalition called GreenSurf.
She said GreenSurf, comprising of NGOs and individuals, fought against the proposal to build a coal plant at Felda Sahabat near Lahad Datu, which was announced by former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in 2009.
“After he (Najib) made the statement, Sabah people got very upset and banded together saying ‘No To Coal’.
"GreenSurf has paid for a study done by Prof Daniel Kammen and the outcome was handed over to the (then) state government.
“(I) am hoping the new government has not inherited the previous coal plant project proponent, which was a huge issue,” she said.
Lanash was commenting on Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal’s recent statement that the state would study the coal power plant proposal, after Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad mentioned that Malaysia has yet to fully utilise its coal reserves in Sabah and Sarawak.
Shafie had said that the state government would conduct in-depth studies on the use of coal, beside gas, for power supply, stating that there were new technologies to process coal that was not detrimental to environment.
“What we need is a dialogue between the state government with groups that have absolutely no vested interest, except for the betterment of the state.
“A study was commissioned to look into torrefied biomass which has the same caloric value as coal and it could be used as a substitute,” Lanash said.
She said with Sabah's 1.57 million hectares of oil palm plantations, there was a need to develop enabling policies to encourage turning empty fruit bunch (EFB) and others into torrefied biomass,"
“We don't have the necessary enabling policies and what we had been planned for Sabah has been taken to China, where it has been successfully implemented,” she said.
Meanwhile, state Tourism, Culture and Environment Assistant Minister Assafal Alian when asked on the matter at a separate event here, assured that the state government would conduct proper studies and take into considerations views from all parties.
“However, in my personal view, the current cost of producing energy is high and there are other countries that have been using coal with minimum impacts (to environment).” said the Tungku Assemblyman.