Steve (second right) flanked by Dr Teo (second left) at the press conference.
MIRI: The youth wing of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Sarawak’s Angkatan Muda Keadilan (AMK) yesterday called upon the government to look at other methods of generating electrical power instead of building mega dams.
Miri chief Steve Teo Jia Jun, in a press conference held at PKR office at Waterfront here, said they were strongly against the building of more mega dams in the state, including the proposed Baram dam.
He said they were concerned about the impact of the mega project to the people and environment.
“The recent flood that hit the state had made us worry that building big dams could result in some form of flood disasters in future.
“We suggest the government look into the possibility of using other ways of generating power like making use of the wind or solar energy,” Steve said.
He also noted that the state already had more than enough power supply as there were already a number of dams built.
Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had also recently called on Sarawak to consider building cascading hydroelectric power (HEP)
dams instead of mega conventional dam. But that suggestion was shot down by Sarawak Energy Bhd (SEB)’s chief executive officer Datuk Torstein Dale Sjotvei saying it was not a cost-effective strategy.
Also present at the press conference yesterday was Miri MP Dr Michael Teo.