Mega-Dams

The other day when I came back from town, I noticed that all the trainees were about to set off somewhere. I didn't really think too much of it at the time, with the language barrier, quite often there a lot of things happening and I usually have no idea what's going on. But on this occasion, one of the guys came up and asked me (in broken English) if I wanted to join them for a BBQ down the beach. Sounded pretty good to me, so I just jumped in the Tonibung mini-bus and off we went!

What I didn't realise was that I was actually going to a press-conference relating to protests against the construction of a mega-dam in Sabah. Yes there was a BBQ, and it was at the beach, but there was also the local media and spokes people supporting the movement. The kind of event EWB has warned that us to avoid!

So apparently, the Malaysian government is proposing to construct a mega-dam in the Ula Papar region of Sabah. But this mega dam wouldn't be a very "clean" source of energy. The dam would have a significant negative impact on the local environment and the indigenous people in the area. The dam would flood 12 sq kilometres where 9 indigenous communities are currently located. These indigenous communities would be uprooted and moved without consideration of their culture and environmental sustainability. 

The BBQ (The food was well cooked)

When I arrived at the BBQ, it was a fairly small group of people, close to the beach, chilling out and enjoying the food. But next thing you know, out comes the yellow t-shirts supporting the movement. English speaking people started to fill me in on the real reason for the BBQ. Rather than look the outcast, I wanted to be part of the moment and I threw on the t-shirt. The cameras came out and pictures were taken.

If it wasn't for the t-shirt I would look like a lost tourist.

Supporters against the Kaiduan Dam and me

Of course, at the time I didn't realise these photographs were going to end up in the local paper. So by the end of my first week in Borneo, I made it into the local news paper. But hey, the beach was nice and the food was good!

Local news paper cut-out. (I'm in the picture, up the back)

For some more information on Mega-Dams and their negative effect on the environment, I recommend checking out this article... Mega-Dam Article