KOTA SAMARAHAN: It could not be denied that the development of the Bakun hydro will bring some adverse impact to the environment.
TAKING THE LEAD: Chin (centre) leads the other cyclists for the gimmick launch of the Go Green campaign at Unimas. — Photo by Jeffery Mostafa
However, this is the sacrifice the people have to make if they want to turn Sarawak into a fully industrialised state, said Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Peter Chin yesterday.
In order for big industries to operate in the state, he said it must have the capacity to provide cheap and liable energy and the only way to achieve this was by generating power using the cheapest possible method and that in this case, it was from hydro.
Chin said it was true that energy could be generated through other means, such as using gas and fossils but it would not be cost effective and environmental friendly.
As such, the minister said, the state government had made the right decision to make full use of its rich water resources and develop those into a renewable energy.
“Yes, we have to admit that the development of the Bakun hydro dam will submerge quite a big area but sometimes we are forced to make a choice. We have to consider what is best for the country and in this case we feel that the state government had made the right decision.
“We have to remember that at the moment there are not many industries in Sarawak. What we have are only very small ones and for us to bring in big industries we should be able to provide both cheap and liable energy and the only way the state can achieve this is to make full use of its rich water resources, such as developing the Bakun dam to generate power,” he said.
Chin said this in response to a question posed by one of the Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) students during the dialogue session after the launching of the 1 IPTA 1 Minister Mentor Programme at the Unimas new campus here yesterday.
He said that the area affected by the dam could be quite vast but it was nothing considered with the size of green and number of forest reserve areas available in the state.
Meanwhile, in his speech at the launching of 1 IPTA 1 Minister Mentor Programme he said that his ministry, which was being entrusted to implement the national green technology policies, will fully support green practices as a way of life, through various initiatives such as reducing the use of energy generated using fossils but instead encouraging the development of renewable energy and improve energy efficiency.
The minister said because of that his ministry was pleased with the initiatives and efforts made by Unimas to conduct related researchers and the development its Green Energy Island project, an effort to assist the government in providing reliable energy to the locals.
At the occasion, he presented a mock cheque amounting to RM605,000 to Unimas to implement the project with the hope that it would help solve the electricity problem faced by the off-grid places in the rural parts of Sarawak.
Unimas Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr Khairuddin Abd Hamid also spoke at the occasion.