See’s private motion on Bengoh Dam dismissed

KUCHING: Speaker Datuk Amar Mohamad Asfia Awang Nasar has dismissed the private motion of See Chee How ( PKRBatu Lintang) who wanted the state government to immediately appoint an independent consultant to examine the seepages and determine the potential risk of the Bengoh Dam and called to audit its safety.

See also wanted the state government to reveal the Emergency Response Plan ( ERP) and conduct workshops on the ERP with the people living at the dam’s downstream.

In dismissing the motion, Asfia said See has taken an alarmist view - that the briefing by the consultant of the Bengoh Dam is misleading, contradictory and self-serving.

“On Monday, the Minister of Utilities, his deputies and state officials took almost the entire day to hear briefing from the dam consultants and experts,” he said in ruling See’s private motion yesterday.

Asfia said the Minister of Utilites is in the know and is fully briefed on the dam while the Public Works Department has said that a consultant from the United Kingdom has also confirmed that the integrity of the dam is perfect.

“The contractor is very experienced. It has constructed more than 200 dams all over the world, and has assured that Bengoh Dam is constructively and technically sound and safe.”

Asfia also assured that in the event of an emergency, which is unlikely, the relevant parties, including the downstream residents, would be informed immediately of an evacuation plan.

After a lengthy explanation on the status of the consultant involved and their findings on the dam, Asfia reinterated that the dam was built to international standard and the consultant was duty- bound to give professional comment that the dam was structurally sound.

He said that seepages were normal occurances. However, good engineering practices require that the seepages should be patched up as much as possible as serviceability issue and the dam safety is not compromised.

A third party audit carried out in 2013 by an expert from Australia concluded that dam safety is acceptable and a new audit is planned by the end of 2017 and 2018.

An Emergency Response Plan for internal on site and outside of the dam is under control and a dialogue session is already planned with the Resident Office on Nov 24.

Despite the motion being dismissed, See said it was heartening that an audit by independent dam expert would be carried out.

However, he said it was his observation that the explanation made through the Speaker had no reference to the leaking of the dam pointed out by PKR Puncak Borneo chief Willie Mongin on Sunday ( Nov 12).

“I put on record my observation that the explanation that was made through the Speaker no longer referred to seepages through the contraction joint but just seepages, which shows the contradiction with the earlier statement given by the minister, relying solely on the report and information given by the dam building contractor and consultant.

“I pointed out that I have been reliably being notified that the seepages are not only seen on the downstream face of the dam, but also seepages in the control room.

“I therefore call for the independent auditor to inspect and examine all the complaints that were brought up,” See said.