Forget Kaiduan Dam in wake of earthquake – Sabah Save Rivers

KOTA KINABALU: Last Friday’s deadly earthquake should serve as a warning to the State Government to cancel the proposed Kaiduan Dam in the Crocker Range, which Mount Kinabalu is also part of.

Sabah Save Rivers (SSR) spokesperson Mary Giun yesterday said the government must pay serious attention on seeking sustainable and safe alternatives to guarantee longterm water supply for the west coast.

“There can be no shortcuts when we speak about sustainable and balanced development. The earthquake on June 5 which claimed 18 lives is in the same mountain range as Kinabalu.

“There is no guarantee that the proposed Kaiduan Dam will be strong enough if another earthquake happens in future, given the intensity of the recent one,” she said in a statement.

Although it has not been identified if the dam lies on an active fault line, a strong tremor in the surrounding area could potentially have a devastating impact on those who live below the dam should it give way.

Sabah geologist Professor Dr Felix Tongkul was in the aftermath of the earthquake quoted as saying although the state should be safe for at least another two decades, his analysis is based on history, citing the 1991 jolt that Ranau suffered from.

A former Minerals and Geoscience Department director Alexander Yan was reported as saying that active fault lines are capable of causing major tremors and that dams should not be built on these, citing the proposed Baram dam in Sarawak that lies close to two fault lines.

Mary said it was not a smart move to build the dam as losses in terms of environmental destruction, loss of heritage and traditional knowledge far outweigh the gains of building the dam.

“Above all these losses, we are also facing the risk of a major earthquake in future,” she said.

She also said it was ironic that Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan had said tourists who desecrated Mount Kinabalu in late May through their actions caused the earthquake, but failed to acknowledge that the area where the dam is planned for is sacred to communities who live there.

“We are connected to our land, forests and everything that lives in it. In the same way we respect Mount Kinabalu, we also honour our ancestral homes. Tan Sri Pairin is well versed in this,” she said.

Pairin who is also Infrastructure Development Minister, has consistently defended building the Kaiduan dam.

Meanwhile, Mary also touched on two meetings organised by the Sabah Water Department in the past two months with NGOs.

“In the April 28 dialogue, it was a one-way street instead of a dialogue. They spoke but questions were not answered. The second meeting on Monday did not go well either,” she said.

Mary said it was learnt that a feasibility study was carried out in 2010 but that there are no concrete technical details, or facts and figures from that assessment.

“We maintain our stand that there is no need for any negotiation with villagers that will be impacted by the dam. Just cancel the project,” she said.