PENAMPANG: Moyog assemblyman Terence Siambun has accepted the suggestion of the Huguan Siou or paramount leader of the Kadazandusun Murut community, Tan Sri Pairin Kitingan, to register grievances against the Kaiduan dam project by starting a signatory campaign.
Siambun told reporters after launching the project, called Projek BANTAH, at his office here yesterday that the signatures of protest collected from the campaign would be submitted to Pairin.
He said that if Pairin was not going to protect the ancestral lands of the Penampang people, he should step down as Huguan Siou.
The campaign, he said, is a collaborative effort between the leaders, human rights advocates, community heads in Penampang, NGOs, volunteers and the Moyog assemblyman’s office.
Siambun pointed out that Penampang has ‘given enough’ by letting the Babagon Dam and another project, Penampang Sewerage Treatment Plant, to be built in the district.
Chairman of the Projek BANTAH, Kenny Chua, said that the communities of Ulu Papar have every right to protest the dam as it concerns their rights.
“All the community are asking is that their ancestral lands, their homes and heritage be left alone. They’re not asking for money or for anything else, just for their rights to be respected and to leave their homes alone,” said Chua.
The RM2 billion Kaiduan Dam will cover a 350 square kilometers area in Ulu Papar, including Terian, Buayan, Babagon Laut, Timpayasa, Tiku, Pongobonon, Kalanggaan, Kionob, and Longkogungan, where about 2,000 people reside.
The Projeck BANTAH committee said the dam would threaten the natural resources and landscapes, completely altering the lifestyles of the affected communities, resulting in the permanent loss of culture and traditions, sacred sites and the forced relocation of the communities.
Kaiduan Dam will have a 3.75m diameter tunnel to channel water to a proposed water treatment plant in Kampung Maang. The tunnel would traverse through the territories of eight indigenous communities including Timpangoh, Sugud and Limbanak, a densely populated area.
The project is also said to go against the United Nations Declaration for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, of which Malaysia is a signatory. According to the declaration, indigenous peoples have the right to determine the use of their lands and governments need to obtain their free, prior, and informed consent before embarking on any projects of this nature, which the task force claimed had never been done before.
Although Pairin has yet to confirm the implementation of the mega dam project, he has been making statements regarding the issue, asking those who protest against the project to think about safeguarding the interest of the greater good, rather than just that of the affected communities.
And, despite saying that the project is only at the planning stage, the Task Force Against Kaiduan Dam had been receiving visits by the appointed company and consultants from alleged independent bodies to conduct feasibility studies and Social and Environment Impact Studies (SEIA).