EIA for Sabah coal-fired plant: Probe into wrong info on power plant site

Roy Goh New Straits Times 30 Jul 10;

KOTA KINABALU: Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman has ordered an investigation into allegations that an assessment prepared for the RM1.4 billion proposed coal-fired plant in Sinakut was inaccurate.

He said he had directed state Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun to look into allegations that the Detailed Environmental Impact Assessment (DEIA) on the site was inaccurate.

"The government looks at this allegation seriously. I have asked Datuk Masidi to investigate the matter," he said after launching the Oil and Palm Industry Exhibition and Seminar organised by the Industrial Development Ministry and Palm Oil Industrial Cluster Sdn Bhd.

He said it was vital that the assessment of the site was accurate.

World Wide Fund for Nature's Malaysia policy analyst Lanash Tanda claimed that the report had made a mistake in classifying the indigenous Orang Sungai and Tidong communities as Indonesians.

He had also challenged the report's assertion that the seabed near the site was largely devoid of sea life.

He had also stated that the report had failed to include details of sampling methods and choice of locations studied.

Wildlife conservationist Dr Marc Acrenaz had pointed out that there were at least two species identified in the report that were not found in Borneo.

They are the dusky langur monkey (Semnopithecus obscurus) and the White Rumped Shama (Copsychus malabaricus).

The report was prepared by consultants hired by Lahad Datu Energy, a TNB-owned company that had proposed to develop the plant.

Sinakut was identified as the site of the project aimed at stabilising power supply in the east coast of Sabah after residents in Darvel Bay, Lahat Datu, and Sandakan protested against proposals to locate the plant there.

No room for error in environs report, says Musa
The Star 30 Jul 10;

KOTA KINABALU: All preparatory work for a proposed 300MW coal-fired plant on Sabah’s east coast must be above board, Chief Minister Datuk Musa Aman said.

He said studies like the detailed environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the project must be accurate.

“Such studies should not leave any room for questioning. It must contain correct information,” he said after launching a palm oil industry exhibition here yesterday.

Musa was responding to reports quoting WWF Malaysia and the Sabah Environmental Protection Association (SEPA) officials as saying that the detailed EIA for the coal-fired plant was fraught with errors.

The environmental groups said the errors became apparent at a panel review of the document on Monday.

Among the mistakes was the inclusion of non-existent animals species in Borneo such as the Dusky Langur, a type of monkey that was said to have been spotted at the project site in Kampung Sinakut, some 300km from the state capital.

In addition, the communities living in the area including the Orang Sungei and Tidung were wrongly described as of Indonesian origin.

WWF Malaysia policy analyst Lanesh Thanda said the consultants that drew up the detailed EIA also erred as they had compared the coastline at the project site which comprised mud flats to coral reefs in places like Pulau Tioman, Klang and the Straits ofMalacca.

The panel review was held at the Department of Environment (DOE) office here and among those present were state government representatives headed by Tourism, Culture and Environment Ministry permanent secretary Datuk Susanna Liaw.

Lanesh who was also at the meeting, said a new study should be commissioned