KUCHING, Aug 24: Upper Baleh-based non-governmental organisation Nanga Antawau Welfare Association (Nakwa) has lashed out at Forest Department Sarawak for blaming the logjam devastation in Baleh River on the local community’s shifting cultivation when it is the authority which failed to monitor the timber concessionaires activities.
Nakwa chairman Bujal Jantai pointed out that it has been years since shifting cultivation was practised along the upper reaches of Baleh River as logging activities had forced local communities to stop that mode of farming.
“The Forest Department has failed to carry out their duties and responsibilities, yet they blame the local community’s shifting cultivation.
“Don’t blame us for the logjam, (but) yourselves for not doing your job properly as strict consistent monitoring by the Forest Department on logging activities is needed,” he said in a statement issued today.
He was responding to a statement by Forest Department Sarawak director Datuk Hamden Mohammad as reported by a Malay news portal, saying that the logjam was due to waste debris from land clearing at the Baleh Hydroelectric Dam site as well as the opening of land for shifting cultivations by locals along the river.
Hamden added that when major floods occurred as a result of continuous heavy rainfall for a week in upstream areas, the wood debris was carried down to the main river.
Commenting on the adverse effects of the logjam on the Baleh Dam construction, Bujal expressed concerns not only over the local community’s livelihood but also their lives.
“Will the logjam cause any danger on the Baleh Dam construction? Will the blockage of the diversion tunnel caused by the logjam burst the ‘Cooper Dam’ and lead to overflow of water downriver?” he questioned.
He also wanted to know if any preventive steps could be taken to avoid any incidents that could endanger the lives of the people and if there is an emergency plan in place to evacuate the local community should the water level reach a dangerous level.
“These are the real safety issues SEB (Sarawak Energy Berhad) should consider and update the affected local community.
“SEB must take the initiative to address, update and assure the local community on environmental and safety issues pertaining to Baleh Dam,” he added.
Baleh Dam is an ongoing Sarawak Energy hydro dam project located at Putai in the upper reaches of the Baleh River with a capacity of 1,285 MW of electricity. Its first transmission expected to be commissioned in 2026.
Referring to the first logjam incident in the headwaters of Baleh River in 2010, Bujal further added, “Following the incident, the local community had performed a special offering or ‘miring’ ritual to appease the gods. Now the gods can no longer be blamed, they blame the local community.”
“The cause of the logjam is not divine but of human doing,” he stressed. — DayakDaily
