Illegal logging complicating Bengoh dam saga
by Johnson K Saai, reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on June 16, 2012, Saturday
KUCHING: Bengoh Resettlement Scheme (BRS) liaison committee claimed villagers affected by the Bengoh dam are somewhat disillusioned by the government and a growing number of them have started having second thoughts about resettling.
BRS liaison committee chairman Itodio Peu Rayu claimed that besides being kept in the dark about the resettlement schedule, the villagers now faced another problem – a logging company had encroached into the land the government had alienated for the villagers.
Peu cautioned that the villagers should not be blamed if they eventually changed their mind and decide not to be resettled.
Residents of the four affected villages – Kampung Taba Sait, Pain Bojong, Semban and Rejoi in upper Penrissen – had initially agreed to be resettled at a site near Kampung Semadang with condition they be given houses, land and basic infrastructure at the resettlement area.
Speaking to The Borneo Post yesterday, Peu said the evacuation process had been long overdue and until today there was no sign that they could move down to the new site.
“It is such a long wait. We have been kept in a dilemma ever since the construction of the dam started in 2007.
“Since then we had faced all kinds of uncertainties, so much so that we were unable to carry out our usual activities.
“Although almost 100 per cent of the people here are farmers we simply cannot plant new crops because we don’t know when exactly we will have to vacate our land. This is the biggest problem that we have and it had affected our livelihood.
“Unfortunately, until today, the government never even bothered to compensate us for the hardship we have faced as a result of the dam development.”
He said now that a new problem had cropped up many of the residents were starting to have second thoughts about resettling.
“Last Wednesday we sent a memorandum to Kuching Resident Abdul Rahman Sebli Senusi, as chairman for Bengoh Dam Project Resettlement and Culture sub-committee, seeking his assistance to put a stop to encroachment by a logging company into the land alienated to us by the government.
“We gave the authorities 48 hours from the day of the memorandum to take action, but the latest information I received from the ground was that the logging company was still there. Now we will see what will happen in the next few days. If nothing is done then don’t blame the villagers if they change
their mind and refuse to move out.”
Copies of the memorandum were also sent to Deputy Tourism Minister Datuk Dr James Dawos Mamit, who is also Mambong MP, Assistant Public Health Minister and Bengoh assemblyman Dr Jerip Susil, Land and Survey Department, Agriculture Department, and Pemanca Austin Dimin as the coordinator of the project.
Peu said all this while the affected villagers had been considerate but some quarters apparently considered them as “naïve” and had taken advantage of them.
“We have been too considerate, so much so that in the end many people tried to take advantage of us, but not this time. You go and clear the land the government had already reserved for us and we will stay put in our own land.”
He added that all the villagers were against deforestation of the land allocated to them as they believed cleared land would no longer be fertile for farming.
Attempts to reach Abdul Rahman for comments on the latest development yesterday were unsuccessful.
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Previous report on the Bengoh dam’s hiking cost from Auditor General’s report:
Acquisition, resettlement send Bengoh cost spiralling
Sarawak’s yet-to-be completed Bengoh Dam could cost an additional RM60.57 million, according to the 2010 Auditor General’s Report.
PETALING JAYA: Severe delays in the construction of Sarawak’s Bengoh Dam could send costs skyrocketing by an additional RM60.57 million, warned the 2010 Auditor-General’s Report.
The dam, located about 40km from Kuching, will supply untreated water to the Kuching Water Board’s treatment plant until 2030.
The initial construction cost stands at RM310.65 million. The amount was a secured loan from the federal government.
Work began in July 2007 and was scheduled for completion in December 2010 but as of February 2011, only 97.3% of the dam has been completed.
The audit report has attributed the delay to poor coordination between land acquisition, the resettlement of nearby villagers and the preparation of the Bengoh Residents Resettlement Scheme.
The dam will affect 1,585 people from four villages.
The audit report found that as of February 2011, the land acquisition and resettlement processes were far from complete as the resettlement site had been changed numerous times.
“To avoid flooding in the affected villages during the dam construction, an additional culvert had to be built costing RM1.65 million.
“This further required additional work to secure a section of the Bengoh riverbank downstream which cost another RM0.55 million,” noted the report.
Resettlement issues stalls work
In September 2010, the Works Department recommended that villagers be temporarily relocated to a nearby area.
It said that the total cost, including housing rental and allowances, would amount to RM39.81 million and would be borne by Sarawak government.
The audit, however, estimated that this cost could easily balloon to RM58.37 million.
The audit also found that the delay in resettlement had stalled work on the water catchment area, which was originally scheduled to begin on June 2010.
As a result, mechanical and electrical equipment like pipes and sluice valves could not be installed, tested and handed over to the Works Department.
The audit report estimated the cost of extending the warrant on these equipment at RM5.20 million.
The current cost of storing the equipment stands at RM136,000.
The dam is now only expected to be fully operational by the end of 2013.