By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Feb 8: Community leaders in Belaga are calling for the establishment of a shared revenue mechanism to allow communities affected by the Bakun Hydropower Project (BHP) to receive direct and sustained benefits from the project’s revenue.
The call was made through a working paper prepared by the Balui Lake Native Association (BLNA) under the chairmanship of Pemanca Tony Kulleh, representing the views and aspirations of affected communities in the Belaga District.
The proposal was tabled during a recent Steering Committee Meeting attended by Belaga assemblyman Datuk Liwan Lagang, Murum assemblyman Kennedy Chukpai Ugon, representatives from Sarawak Energy Berhad, the District Office, local community leaders and various local associations in Belaga.
According to the working paper, communities affected by the Bakun Hydropower Project, including resettled groups in Sungai Asap as well as upstream and downstream communities impacted by environmental changes, continue to face long-term social and economic challenges despite the project’s contribution to Sarawak’s development.
The Bakun dam, Malaysia’s largest hydropower facility with a capacity of 2,520 megawatts, began operations in 2011. Fully owned by Sarawak Energy on behalf of the Sarawak government, it supplies power to the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE) and exports surplus electricity to neighbouring regions, generating substantial revenue for the State.
However, the working paper highlighted that about 10,000 indigenous people from communities such as the Kayan, Kenyah, Kajang and Penan were resettled to Sungai Asap following the project’s development, while other communities along the Batang Balui River have experienced environmental impacts including habitat loss, altered river flow and water quality and disruption to traditional livelihoods such as fishing, hunting and forest-based activities.
While acknowledging existing support measures by Sarawak Energy and the State government including infrastructure development, rural electrification and biodiversity conservation programmes, the paper noted persistent concerns among resettled families. These include limited access to arable land, with families receiving three acres instead of the originally promised 10 acres, unsuitable soil conditions for agriculture and the lack of long-term economic opportunities.
To address these issues, BLNA proposed a Shared Revenue Mechanism or Direct Revenue Sharing framework that would allocate a portion of Bakun’s revenue directly to affected communities.
The proposal suggested setting aside between one and two per cent of Sarawak Energy’s annual gross revenue from the Bakun project, or applying a per-kilowatt-hour rate on electricity generated or sold.
The funds would be channelled into a dedicated Community Trust Fund governed by a board comprising representatives from affected communities, the Sarawak government, Sarawak Energy, and independent experts in finance and indigenous affairs. Decisions on fund allocation would be made through community assemblies to ensure transparency and accountability.
Under the proposed framework, fund utilisation would prioritise livelihood development, education and healthcare, community infrastructure, environmental management and contingency reserves.
The working paper further emphasised that revenue sharing would promote equity and social justice by ensuring communities that bear the direct impacts of the project benefit from its long-term success.
It also noted that sustained benefits could encourage community participation in environmental stewardship and align with Sarawak’s broader sustainable development goals.
BLNA, together with community leaders in Belaga, urged the Sarawak government and Sarawak Energy to form a task force to review the proposal and initiate stakeholder consultations, including the possibility of a pilot phase to refine the mechanism based on community feedback.
The association stressed that the proposal reflects the collective position of community leaders and residents in Belaga on the need for a more inclusive development approach linked to the Bakun Hydropower Project. — DayakDaily
