Liwan wants employment of locals in Bakun dam given priority

KUCHING: Now that the state government has acquired the 2,400MW Bakun HEP dam from the federal government, top priority should be given to the local people in filling vacancies in managing the mammoth dam, said Belaga assemblyman Liwan Lagang.

“We have so many engineers from Belaga district who are now unemployed. And since Bakun now belongs to the state government, please give top priority to the local people,” Liwan told The Borneo Post here yesterday.

Besides giving top priority to the employment of local people, Liwan said the government should also address the wishes of the people in the district; namely to have better roads, 24-hour electricity supply from the grid system and treated water supply.

He said people who were directly affected by the mammoth dam were those who had been resettled at Sungai Asap and those indirectly affected were people living below the Bakun HEP dam, and all that they wanted was to have their wishes to have a better life granted.

“They have sacrificed so much for the construction of the Bakun HEP dam. So now it’s time the state government provide what is due to them such as better roads, 24-hour electricity supply connected to the grid system and treated water,” said Liwan, who is also the lead minister for the Rural Transformation Project for communities affected by hydroelectricity projects in the state.

Liwan was commenting on the news that Bakun HEP dam had been acquired by the state government as announced by Chief Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg on Wednesday.

Besides living in constant fear of the dam collapsing, he said those living below the dam also have to endure the stinking odour of sulphur emitted from the dam’s spillway.

“The least we should do to compensate them for their willingness to accept the mega project in the name of  development is to provide them with the basic necessities. Actually, they are not asking for the moon and the stars,” he asserted.

He stressed that the people in Belaga had been very supportive of Barisan Nasional (BN) all this while and that was the main reason why they were frustrated with the slow pace of development taking place in the district.

“We have been crying for better roads, water and electricity for the people there but until now the only road that we have leading to Belaga Town is a ‘Jiwa Murni’ road which is often affected by heavy rain,” he said, referring to the latest incident of soil erosion which rendered the Mejawah-Belaga road impassable.

Equally frustrated is Hulu Rajang MP Datuk Wilson Ugak Kumbong, who said the people of Belaga had been very patient with the government.

In view of this, he said more money should be allocated to Belaga to further develop the district.

“Prior to the acquisition of the Bakun HEP dam, the state had been paid RM120 to RM130 million annually as water levy. But since the Bakun HEP dam has been acquired by the state government through Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB), more money should be allocated and channelled through its corporate social responsibility (CSR) for the development of the district,” he said.

Ugak, who has been a board member of Sarawak Hidro since 2015, said he was able to raise the CSR allocation from Sarawak Hidro from RM100,000 to RM1 million annually.

“Now after the takeover, I’m not sure whether I will be invited on the board. But as an MP for the area, I will continue do my part for the improvement of the welfare of the people of Belaga,” reiterated Ugak.

He thanked Abang Johari for negotiating with the federal government for the Bakun acquisition and said it was part of the devolution of power which Sarawak had been fighting for.

Meanwhile, Liwan appealed to the state government to extend the recently launched ‘Skim Perumahan Khas Rakyat’ to Sungai Asap for the second and third generation resettlers and hoped that the houses would be priced below RM100,000.

Last month, during the launching of a new two-pronged housing policy which will offer more affordable houses through ‘Skim Perumahan Khas Rakyat’ (Spektra) with assistance from the newly created state-owned finance establishment ‘Mutiara Mortgage and Finance’ in Lundu, the Chief Minister had said that the housing scheme would be extended to the resettlers at Sungai Asap.

Abang Johari had also mentioned that the houses built under this policy will be similar to those built for the resettlers at the Bengoh Resettlement Scheme (BRS).