(AFP) Google News 19 Aug 10;
KUALA LUMPUR — Environmentalists have won a victory in a battle to prevent a coal-fired power plant being built in Malaysian Borneo, with a minister Thursday rejecting the plan due to environmental concerns.
Sabah state environment minister Masidi Manjun reportedly said proponents of the project now have the choice to either drop the controversial power project or launch an appeal to conduct another environmental assessment study.
"At this point of time, all quarters should respect the Department of Environment (DOE) decision," he was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency.
The 300-megawatt plant in Lahad Datu, in Sabah state which along with Sarawak makes up Malaysia's half of Borneo island, would face the Coral Triangle which is one of the world's most biodiverse marine environments.
The area, which spans the seas around East Timor, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and the Solomon Islands, is home to 75 percent of all known coral species.
Environmentalists immediately hailed the decision.
Opposition was led by Green Surf, a coalition of groups including the Malaysian Nature Society, which said the plant would displace villagers and threaten endangered species including orangutans and Bornean rhinos.
Spokesman Wong Tack said that proponents of the project, which national energy provider Tenaga Nasional has a stake, should scrap it altogether.
"We thank the DOE for carrying out their duty without fear or favour. Now that a federal agency has made such a decision, we hope that the state government too will take a stand," he said.
"Let us not waste any more time and energy. We are confident alternatives can be put in place effectively in the short term."
The plant is the latest energy project to stir controversy in Borneo. The vast Bakun dam in neighbouring Sarawak which saw swathes of rainforest cleared and thousands of indigenous people displaced also drew intense criticism.
'Respect DOE decision on coal-fired plant'
Julia Chan New Straits Times 20 Aug 10;
KOTA KINABALU: The decision by the Department of Environment (DOE) to reject the detailed environmental impact assessment (DEIA) for the proposed 300-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Lahad Datu should be respected.
Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun said the decision was made professionally based on facts and findings.
The DOE rejected the report prepared by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Pakarunding consultants on the ground that many important environmental parameters were not addressed.
The latest development was met with relief and approval by many non-governmental organisations and environmentalists who had been campaigning against the coal-fired plant for months.
Masidi, however, said the project manager, Lahad Datu Energy, could always appeal or prepare another report that would meet DOE's requirements.
"Existing policy and procedures give options to the proponent of the coal-fired plant project to appeal to the director-general of the DOE to do and prepare another EIA report. It's now really up to the company whether to exercise this option."
Sabah Environment Protection Department director Yabi Yangkat said that they received a fax on Wednesday informing them of the DOE's decision to reject the DEIA report, after taking into consideration the queries raised at the panel of review meeting in August.
Specially formed NGO Green SURF (Sabah Unite to Re-Power the Future) are urging the government to call off the proposed coal-fired plant entirely.
Green SURF is a coalition of five NGOs including SEPA, WWF Malaysia, Land Empowerment Animals People (LEAP), Malaysian Nature Society and Partners of Community Organisations (PACOS). It was set up in October last year after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced that a power plant would be built in Lahad Datu.
"It is time for all stakeholders to work together in coming up with alternative solutions to dirty energy like coal, in solving power shortage in the state," said Wong Tack, who is Sabah Environmental Protection Association (SEPA) president, on behalf of Green SURF.
"Let us not waste any more time and energy. We are confident alternatives can be put in place effectively in the short term," he said in a statement yesterday.
Green SURF had raised concerns about failure on the part of the consultants to list marine and terrestrial species correctly, and problems in the way sampling was done, apart from issues on design and shipment of coal from Kalimantan.
In April 2008, the state rejected the DEIA for the first proposed site in Silam, also in Lahad Datu, on the ground that it would have negative environmental and health impact.
Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd's proposal for an alternative site in Sandakan also did not meet the DEIA standard following strong objections from locals.
