Sarawak News - Found on mysarawak.org. Posted on Monday, September 1, 2008 - 3 Comments

Bengoh Dam nearer reality with allocation under Budget 2009

KUCHING: The construction of the Bengoh Dam will proceed as scheduled now that it has received allocation under the 2009 Budget, Second Minister of Planning and Resource Management Dato Sri Awang Tengah Ali Hassan said yesterday.

“The Bengoh Dam will go on. It is not ‘tergendala’ (facing disruption). We are now in the process of implementing the project and we have already started building roads and other infrastructure for the resettlement area,” he told reporters after the state-level Merdeka Day parade at the State Stadium here.

He was commenting on the RM3.3 billion allocation for Sarawak under Budget 2009 to increase basic amenities and infrastructure in the state.

Bengoh Dam is one of the major projects mentioned in the Budget 2009. The others are Jalan Penghubung (leading to Sarawak new Federal Administrative Centre), Jalan Nanga Buai (to Ulu Sepak, Betong), Jalan Awat-Awat (to Kuala Lawas), Jalan Tanjong Assam (to Saribas), Bengoh Dam in Kuching, an Integrated Waste Water Management System in Kuching, ‘Program Perumahan Rakyat Disewa’, tourism and ecotourism projects as well as hospitals and rural health facilities.

Tengah, who is also Minister of Public Utilities, said the contractor for Bengoh Dam had also been decided upon while the first phase of the project implementation which involves construction of roads are already being carried out.

“In fact, they are already ahead of schedule (towards completing the roads),” he said.

Based on earlier press reports, Bengoh Dam project is estimated at RM310 million and its construction period, 40 months. Once completed, it would be able to store about 144.1 million cubic metres of water, to meet the increasing demand of the city and the greater Kuching and Samarahan areas.

There are 199 families from Bidayuh villages of Kampung Sait, Kampung Pain, Kampung Rejoi and Kampung Semban affected by the Bengoh Dam. An area sited between Kampung Semadang and Skio, Bau has been announced as the new site to relocate these villages which would retain their original names while a new township will also be built complete with school and other facilities.

On another matter, Tengah said the state government was thankful with the RM3.3 billion allocation because the new infrastructures would ultimately benefit the people.

Tengah however pointed out that Sarawak needed more than just RM3.3 billion to make a major thrust forward in terms of development.

“We actually need more allocation, but nonetheless we are grateful for the funds given to us although we know this is not sufficient,” he said.

Tengah also hoped that red-tape and bureaucracy would not delay projects approved under the Budget 2009.

“We wish that all the projects that have been approved with the budget allocated will be implemented according to schedule because

approved projects not implemented are meaningless to the people,” he said.

“Let there not be any capricious forms of bureaucracy which could cause projects that have already been approved to become disrupted or stalled.

“This will spoil our intentions to serve our target group,” he said.

3 Comments

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The Tun Razak generation
Nov 14, 2008 12:33

Just wait and see for the HOPE when we can hope for,
JUST sud up with just RM3.3 billion to make a major thrust forward in terms of development is NOTHING
by refers to the plenty of the project. When it just a mere consideration for the purpose of being built the said Bengoh Dam.
Look and see a more Bidayuh get fucked like Penan more and more. …
Look and see to thrust more and more who is talk….
see for a while.

kdumpai
Nov 15, 2008 13:39

all those mega projects are mainly for our “Menteri’s” la. never imagin that it will benefit the rakyat as what they said. check it out who were those damp shit shareholders…..but all those victims are our ethnic landowners…if they really meant to upgrade the rakyat livehood, why those menteri’s so ignorance about our setinggan throughout our country…..why?????

James dawos the Madis
Nov 16, 2008 12:42

They report that oustees are forced to migrate to inhospitable localities or to live amongst hostile host populations, with coercive eviction and variable compensation causing widespread resentment and intense opposition. These reports are unverified but are not surprising, based on experience elsewhere.

Incentives and compensation constitute the major problem in resettlement. The construction of dams breeds untold social discontent and despair when developers absolve themselves from the duty of care to see that displaced people are not worse off. However, some critics even think that the Pareto welfare optimum of economists that “no one should be worse off” is not sufficient because it implies economic paralysis (Goodland, 1997). Indeed, the beneficiaries of dam development should also include the displaced and host populations.

But the amount actually being disbursed for resettlement is not known. Expected cost inflation for building the dam will probably reduce resettlement allocations. Even the best intentions cannot materialize into satisfactory resettlement if funds are insufficient. Of course, the engineering viewpoint is economically miscalculated if the scarce and fertile farmlands to be flooded are more valuable than the electricity generated; the total welfare loss to the whole society might be minimized if the economic cost of inundated farmlands was more widely dispersed instead of concentrated in one area.

We have a plenty of land a valid title for our land, a free food sources, an simply life in the better house life, a sufficient sources of healh, …why have to moved???

We have reviewed the resettlement issues arising from the Bengoh Dam and placed these in the context of Sarawak’s property rights and its transition to market socialism with political reforms and more institutional transparency. The dam will have adverse social and health impacts on more people than any other ever built. Experience with resettlement for large dams points to the complex procedures needed to mitigate adverse effects. The finance proposed ensures that voluntary resettlement cannot be afforded even if the government was willing and capable. Studies of the baseline economy, demography and sociology are lacking. Measuring and interpreting social outcomes require “missing” inputs that are not present. We might take a counter as what ever happened as other 11 dams undisclosed facts in Sarawak country of Taib.