Displaced, dispossessed

As we read of the plight of Sarawak’s tribal people displaced and dispossessed by the huge, controversial Bakun hydro-electric dam, there are expert comments to consider. Professor Asit Kumar Biswas, an international consultant on water resources development and environmental management, had this to say about local communities being thus displaced:

“Resettlement planning for large dams and their implementation have seldom been successful in developing countries. Most of the sites selected for resettlement are not ready when the settlers arrive, and lack of potable water and sanitary facilities force people to use lake or river water which could be contaminated. People often store water near dwellings for convenience, and this could become potential breeding grounds for mosquitoes, which are carriers of numerous diseases. Medical facilities are often non-existent, and people, mostly illiterate and often nomadic, are unaware of the basic precautions necessary for health. Theoretically, the health of settlers in the new environments should be better than before they were evacuated, but in reality conditions generally turn out to be worse than before.”

He added that people are often moved to areas with less desirable soil and sources of water which are not conducive to farming: “Agricultural yields diminish and become inadequate. Whereas in earlier locations diets could be supplemented with fish, a common and important source of protein, new areas are often far from water bodies and this source disappears.”

His observations were in his role as president of the International Society for Ecological Modelling. He is furthermore the author of 64 books and more than 600 technical papers. But many other researchers have documented the problems of the displaced.

On the Bakun Dam, it is worthwhile using Google to read what is there, particularly an article by the Jakarta Globe as recently as last November, headlined: “Malaysia’s Bakun Dam Slammed As Disaster”

• M. Jegathesan | November 02, 2011, Jakarta Post: Malaysia’s Bakun Dam Slammed as Disaster

Bakun Dam, Malaysia. The first turbine is spinning, electricity is pulsing out and the water level is climbing in the Borneo jungle behind Malaysia’s huge $2.2 billion Bakun hydroelectric dam.

But questions continue to swirl around the viability of a project described by critics as a graft-plagued human and ecological disaster, and as opposition mounts against a dozen other planned dams in Sarawak state.

The first turbine from French giant Alstom began producing electricity in August and the dam’s reservoir in the Malaysian portion of Borneo has swelled to the size of Singapore since impoundment began a year ago.

After years of warnings about the impact on Sarawak’s pristine jungles and the forced removal of thousands of local tribespeople, the dam’s head, Zulkifle Osman, sees light at the end of the tunnel.

During a tour of the facility, the managing director of Sarawak Hidro, who has overseen construction since 2000, defended the dam despite an electricity surplus in the state and the lack of a market for its power.

“It is a chicken-and-egg game,” Zulkifle said. “I am confident there will be a lot of demand for electricity in Sarawak.”

But dam opponents say the situation confirms warnings about Bakun as an ill-planned and unnecessary boondoggle.

The facility is located on the Balui River, a mighty waterway that drains a vast rain-forested area of northern Borneo, home to a renowned biodiversity of orangutans, spotted leopards, rare plants and others.

The project was approved in 1986 under Mahathir Mohamad, the prime minister at the time, as a cheap electricity source for more-developed peninsular Malaysia even though the country is a net oil and natural gas exporter.

But in a 2005 report, antigraft watchdog Transparency International termed the dam one of the world’s “Monuments of Corruption,” citing years of delays, ownership changes and overall costs that more than doubled.

“No users have made any legal written commitment for the usage of the energy,” said Elli Luhat, a former Sarawak forestry official who is now an environmental activist. “I have a real fear that Bakun dam will one day become a white elephant.”

Tribal residents say warnings about the dam’s ecological and human impact are coming true.

Residents living in the shadow of the dam, one of the world’s highest at 205 meters, say the river’s biodiversity has degenerated, fish catches have plunged and once-clean waters smell foul and are unsafe to drink.

Silting has occurred, inhibiting river navigation, natives say.

Climbing into his boat in Uma Nyaving village, about 10 kilometers from Bakun, Kayan tribesman Richard Let complained of the dwindling fish numbers. “Now there is not enough for my family and the fish are small. The river is choking under silt and is making it difficult to fish with our boats,” said Let, 31.

Downstream from the dam, nearly 12,000 indigenous Kayan, Kenyah, Ukit and Penan people live in traditional wooden longhouses in a resettlement area in Sungai Asap town. Their ancestral homes are now underwater.

They enjoy amenities unknown when they dwelt in the forest — piped water, electricity, schools, Internet access and health services.

But Bulan Merang, 43, who moved to Sungai Asap 12 years ago, struggles to feed her eight children amid high food prices and new social strains.

“Children no longer respect their elders. Even my 21-year-old son says I am a useless woman whenever he gets drunk,” she said.

The tribes, which previously grew rice and bananas and hunted wild boar, say their new land is infertile. Age-old hunting grounds are submerged and they must purchase staple foods.

“We were not dependent on money [before]. Here everything is money,” Bulan said.

Ironically, Sungai Asap’s electricity comes not from Bakun but from a huge diesel-powered generator. The dam’s electricity is sent away on power lines crisscrossing the green terrain, headed to a state grid already at capacity.

Sarawak is rich in natural resources but poverty is rampant. Its leaders are eager to diversify from mining, agriculture and forestry and into high-tech industries, and say ample power sources are needed to lure foreign investment.

“I am confident the power from Bakun will be taken up. MITI [the Ministry of International Trade and Industry] is working hard to get investors,” Zulkifle said.

He also said that released water was treated to ensure it was clean and denied corruption allegations. “All the money that is paid is audited. We are scrutinized,” he said.

The planned eight turbines will have a capacity of 2,400 megawatts by 2014. Current Sarawak demand is 1,000 MW.

Despite the Bakun controversy, the state has plans for a dozen more dams, angering local tribes.

Agence France-Presse

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/international/malaysias-bakun-dam-slammed-as-disaster/475840

• Shayne McGrath: Fires are still burning tonight in the Tripa Peat Forest, Aceh Province, Sumatra.

But there is also fires burning all around the world.

The first refers to illegally lit fires in Sumatra, an intentional destructive firestorm burning to clear protected forest to convert the area into palm oil concessions.
The second to the fires in the hearts of millions around the world who are just picking up the news now.

Orangutans in Indonesia’s Aceh forest may die out in weeks
(Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/28/us-indonesia-environment-idUSBRE82R0NK20120328

INDONESIA LAND CLEARANCE ‘WIPING OUT’ ORANGUTANS
(AFP)
http://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/-/world/13291342/indonesia-land-clearance-wiping-out-orangutans/

There was an international press conference in Jakarta some hours ago with global experts warning unless Indoensian law was enforced, and the illegal land clearing stopped, under the current conditions, the Tripa Peat Forests would be destroyed, once renown for having the ‘highest density of Sumtran orangutans on earth, these as other threatened wildlife, would all be locally extinct in months.

Thats right. Before the end of this year.

A journalist at the press conference asked today, “Is there anymore, like, is it ok without these ones?”

That question, you can decide that yourself. Will you allow the remaining the Sumatran Orangutans to die? Will you turn a blind eye?

But, please, bear in mind. The area in Tripa where fires continue to burn, is protected under National Spacial Planning Laws. It is part of the protected Leuser Ecosystem Is protected under ‘deep peat’ laws, and it was protected under a multi billion agreement with Norway. If the Orangutans and Forests of Tripa are allowed to perish, it will clearly show, that no forest, or any threatened wildlife in Indonesia is safe.

Please pass the media release, demands for coalition to save Tripa, and report found attached through your networks.

In addition to these, there is a selection of photos of the fires available for download at http://www.2shared.com/file/QoELpGVd/Tripa.html

There is also a new blogspot/website, this is where you can receive regular updates about the campaign to save these iconic species, and the breathtaking forests of Indonesia.

www.endoftheicons.wordpress.com

Download:
MEDIA_RELEASE_Tripa_orangutans_mar_28_2012.pdf
Press_release_demands_Mar_28_2012.pdf

• President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono being petitioned from around the world to uphold Indonesian Laws

Jakarta, March 30th, 2012

In response to the much publicised devastating fires and orangutan tragedy currently unfolding
in the Tripa Peat Swamps, The Coalition Team to Save the Tripa Swamps (TKPRT), their
partners, and supporters around the world have launched a global online petition asking that
Indonesia’s President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyo, support legal action against those
accountable for the illegal destruction of the UNEP/UNESCO recognized and legally protected
Tripa peat swamp forests of Aceh, Indonesia.

The petition will be delivered to:
The President of the Republic of Indonesia (Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono), Head of Indonesia’s
REDD+ Task Force (Kuntoro Mangkusubroto), Chairman of the REDD+ task force working
group (Mas Ahmad Santosa), Norway’s Ambassador to Indonesia (Ambassador Homme),
Head of the Indonesian National Police (Jenderal [Pol] Timur Pradopo), Minister of
Forestry (Zulkifly Hasan), Minister for Foreign Affairs (Dr. R.M. Marty M. Natalegawa), Minister
of Agriculture (Dr. Ir. H. Suswono, MMA).

The Petition simply asks them to Enforce the laws protecting the Tripa Peat Swamp and its
Orangutan population

Indonesia’s ability to enforce its National Laws is in serious question, leading to increasing
public scrutiny.

A legal case is currently ongoing in the administrative court in Banda Aceh, contesting the
legality of a plantation concession permit issued to PT. Kallista Alam by the then Governor of
Aceh, as it contravenes the National Spatial Plan issued in 2008, in which the entire Leuser
Ecosystem, of which Tripa is an integral part, is a designated National Strategic Area for
Environmental Protection. The final ruling in the case is due on April 3rd.

Hadi Daryanto, secretary-general of the Ministry of Forestry, told the Jakarta Post that this
permit should not have been issued under the terms of a Moratorium on New Permits in Primary
Forests and Peatlands, issued by President Yudhoyono in May 2011 :

“It’s clearly a violation because the area in question is a peat forest. On the moratorium map it’s
clearly marked out as protected, but in the revision that followed, it was somehow excluded.
That exclusion in itself is also a violation because it occurred after the moratorium went into
effect.”

Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, the chairman of Indonesia’s REDD+ Task Force, also gave this critical
response to Reuters on hearing of the case :

“While we recognise the need for the palm oil industry to also grow, signing an agreement with
a palm oil company to allow the conversion of protected peatland into palm oil plantations, very
clearly breaks the moratorium.”

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono himself stated in 2011 that he would : “dedicate the last
three years of my term as President to deliver enduring results that will sustain and enhance the
environment and forests of Indonesia”.

A failure of Indonesia’s legal system in such an obviously clear-cut case, would represent a
major global embarrassment for the country, not to mention its international partners, in its
failure to fulfil its commitment to reducing carbon emissions.

Furthermore, all last week numerous huge fires, deliberately and illegally lit by oil palm
companies, swept through a significant area of the remaining peat swamp forests of Tripa.
Clearing peatlands using fire is highly illegal. Clearing forests containing Endangered species
(HCVF1 category forests) also contravenes the Indonesian palm oil industry’s own legally
required standards (ISPO) and unless immediate action is taken to halt and reverse the current
wave of illegal destruction, Tripa’s population of the Critically Endangered Sumatran orangutan
(Pongo abelii), could be extinct in a matter of months, even weeks if a prolonged dry spell were
to set in. The strongest possible action must be taken against the companies responsible for the
crisis, who are acting as if they think that they can break the law with impunity.

The Tripa peat swamp forests in Aceh have long been recognized as a UNEP/UNESCO Great
Ape Survival Partnership Priority Site for Great Ape Conservation, and in the early 90’s these
peat swamp forests are estimated to have contained between 2,000 and 3,000 Sumatran orangutans.

But today, only a few hundred survive, and a tipping point has now been reached where
just one more serious and uncontrolled fire event could easily wipe out the remaining survivors,
and all other wildlife species in these forests, many of them also Endangered and legally
protected under Indonesian law. Furthermore, these peat swamps are also critically important to
both the local and even international human community, since they serve many vital
environmental and ecological functions, such as providing food resources, regulating water
supplies and limiting floods and droughts, and since they store huge quantities of carbon,
mitigating climate change. The continuing destruction of Tripa will further exacerbate chronic
flooding and droughts, and cause massive carbon emissions from the exposed peat for many
decades to come. We ask for your support in expressing your outrage at these events by
joining the following online petition:

http://www.change.org/petitions/enforce-the-law-protecting-tripa-peat-swamp-and-its-orangutanpopulations
If enough of us care, we can make a difference.

• Earlier on Tasmanian Times: Ta Ann’s links to allegations of rights abuses, environmental destruction. Heat on FT

• Media Alert
02/04/2012

The much anticipated verdict in the case of PT. Kallista Alam & Former Aceh Governor vsWalhi Aceh (Friends of the Earth Indonesia) will be heard in the Aceh Administration Court tomorrow (03/04/2012).

The case has become subject to international scrutiny over the last week as illegally lit fires blazed a trail of destruction through Orangutan habitat in the Tripa Peat Swamp Forest.

~~oO0~~
In the case of:
Walhi Aceh (Friends of the Earth Indonesia)
Challenging the legality Oil Palm Plantation Permit No. 525/BB2T/5322/2011
Issued by Former Aceh Governor to PT Kallista Alam

The basis of the challenge:
The permit allows the destruction of Tripa’s natural deep peat swamp forests
that are inside the Protected Leuser Ecosystem

Judges verdict is expected 10:00am

Aceh Provincial Administrative Court
Banda Aceh
Jln. Mohd.Thaher No. 25
Lueng Bata
Banda Aceh
Indonesia

10:00am Tuesday April 3rd – 2012

Attendance is invited