More Penan woes: 1,000 to be uprooted by dam project

KUCHING: Some 1,000 Penans from seven interior settlements will be uprooted from their ancestral homes to pave way for the proposed Murum hydroelectric dam project in Belaga district, Kapit Division.

The villagers are from Long Wat, Long Luar, Long Tangau, Long Menapa, Long Singu, Long Malim and Long Uba.

Besides the Penans, about 20 Kenyah-Badeng families will also be affected by the 944MW dam project, the construction of which started last year.

The Kenyah-Badengs, who were affected by the Bakun project, have opted for alternative resettlement in Murum after refusing to move to the Bakun resettlenment scheme at Asap-Koyan in upper Belaga river about 10 years ago.

Murum is the second largest hydroelectric dam to be built in Sarawak after the 2,400MW Bakun dam scheduled for completion next year.

The proposed RM3bil Murum dam, sited about 60km upstream of the Bakun dam, is expected to be ready by 2013.

Sarawak Conservation Action Network’s national coordinator for dam development Raymond Abin said the Penans had called on the Government to stop the Murum dam project as they did not want to move out from their settlements.

He said they were against resettlement, claiming that the authorities had not looked after the welfare of some 30 Penan families from Long Belangau who were relocated in the Asap-Koyan scheme.

“The Penans in Murum have rejected the proposed resettlement sites, including Penyuan in upper Sungai Bala and in Sungai Mali,’’ Abin said after presenting a paper at a community forum on dam development in Sarawak at Telang Usan hotel here on Tuesday night.

Abin, who visited the Penans in Murum last week, said the affected villagers were in the dark as the authorities had not revealed the details of the proposed resettlement programme.

“The Government has promised them they would have a better life in the resettlement scheme as they will be provided with amenities like schools and health facilities,” he said.

Two Penan representatives, Suei Alung from Long Luar and Bujang Jalong from Long Tangau, who spoke at the forum, said they were worried as the dam project would destroy their land, crops and burial grounds.

They said they did not want to be moved to resettlement scheme as it was not suitable for their way of life.