Malaysia Forest

Press Statement: A new hydropower project in the Limbang river in the east Malaysian state of Sarawak on the island of Borneo, would be a threat to the livelihood of several municipalities rain forest, when it comes to the future. According to local sources, surveying work for a planned dam started in April 2008, without the affected indigenous population properly.

A new hydropower project in the Limbang river in the east Malaysian state of Sarawak on the island of Borneo, would be a threat to the livelihood of several municipalities rain forest, when it comes to the future.

According to local sources, surveying work for a planned dam started in April 2008, without the affected indigenous population properly.

Several teams of inspectors have begun assessing the geology and hydrology of the Upper Limbang and investigate the relocation of several hundred Penan and Kelabit, live on the premises are affected by the proposed dam. While the Kelabit have a long tradition of agriculture in the region, the Penan have recently settled hunter-collector, still depend to a large extent in the rain forest for their livelihood.

An apparent attempt at social engineering. This took the form of acquisitions of local opinion on the proposed dam by the distribution of questionnaires to locals. But what the official dam project really is still not effectively disclosed. Maps, in the area show three different locations proposed dam, and rumors are widespread that one of the schemes would have a dam 500 meters high and thus would submerge the Kelabit village Long Napir and at least three Penan villages.

Mutang Urud, a Kelabit rainforest lawyer from Long Napir, said: "This dam project seems to be the last attack on our forests and our life base. It would not only erase our cultural landscape, but also the cultural memory of our younger generation."

While most of primeval rain forests in the upper town Limbang were logged in, the Limbang Valley still secondary forests with a very high biodiversity.

In the 1980s and early 1990s, the upper Limbang Penan and Kelabit staged a series of blockades against the loggers, but not prevent them from interfering in their country.