Malaysia: NGOs burn over plan for coal-fired power plant

Stephanie Lee The Star 19 Sep 13;

KOTA KINABALU: The Government must stick to its word and permanently scrap any plan to build a coal-fired power plant in Sabah.

According to Land Empowerment Animals People (LEAP) executive director Cynthia Ong, the Malaysian Government must not be seen as flip-flopping over the plant, especially after it gained accolades from the international community for agreeing to scrap the plant two years ago.

She said that Sabah cannot risk having a polluting source of energy while telling the world that the state is a front runner in biodiversity and conservation efforts.

Ong was responding to the Energy, Green Technology and Water Dep­uty Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid’s revelation that the Federal Go­­vernment was seriously considering the reintroduction of the project in Lahad Datu in order to boost the availability of electricity in Sabah, which is currently suffering a shortfall in supply on the eastern side.

She said five NGOs had formed Green SURF (Sabah Unite to Re-Power the Future) in October 2009 to oppose the project, which at that point had been proposed for a third time.