MADPET and 23 CSOs Demand A Written Guarantee to Stop Baram Dam Development Project

Demand A Written Guarantee to Stop Baram Dam Development Project

Civil Society Joint Statement

10 November 2015

Coinciding with the second anniversary of Baram blockade, We, the 24 civil society groups signing this statement, strongly demand the state government of Sarawak to immediately stop the Baram Dam development project with written guarantee and to stop encroaching the Native Customary Land.

Although Chief Minister Adenan has verbally instructed the suspension of this project, people of Baram would continue their resistance movement until the final written guarantee is presented by the state government.

We would like to reiterate, that, the local villagers have never been consulted prior to commencement of the dam project. It indicates a violation by the state government of the development principles of “Free, Prior, Inform and Consent” stated in United Nations Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples. This mega dam project would force twenty thousand indigenous people to relocate, and annihilate heritages and cultures. An area as large as Singapore would be flooded, posing a long-term environmental destruction. Not only should the state government halts the Baram dam project, all 12 mega dam projects proposed under the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE) should also be canceled.

Baram people have been stationing at the two camps, namely Long Lama and KM15 in the past two years to prevent staff and contractors of Sarawk Energy Berhad (SEB) from going into the project construction site. Last year at KM 15, fourteen confrontations with SEB occurred in three months, during which SEB personnel were expelled and machines were moved away. A huge hole was also dug at the main road heading to the construction site.

The state government must recognize the perceived meaning of “development” by indigenous villagers. They would never accept any forms of exploitation of natural resources, let alone their ancestral land and rivers. They demand a sustainable development – provision of basic infrastructures and democratic life without sacrificing environmental ecology and culture. Therefore mega dam project at rural Baram should be replaced by construction of amenities (roads, schools and hospitals), as well as supplying electricity and clean water.

Signatories:

1.      Baramkini

2.      Damn the Dams Action Group

3.      Teoh Beng Hock Trust for Democracy

4.      Pusat KOMAS

5.      Center for Orang Asli Concern

6.      Institut Rakyat

7.      Rainbow Genders Society

8.      Institute for Development of Alternative Livestyle Lifestyle (IDEAL)

9.      Civil Rights Committee of KL & Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall

10.  Malaysian Youth and Students' Democratic Movement (DEMA)

11.  Persatuan Masyarakat Selangor & Wilayah Persekutuan (PERMAS)

12.  Tindak Malaysia

13.  Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM)

14.  Sahabat Rakyat

15.  Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture (MADPET)

16.  Save Rivers

17.  In Between Cultura

18.  Community Information and Communications Centre (CICOM)

19.  Bukit Bandarraya Residents Association

20.  Focus On Sarawak

21.  Aliran

22.  Johor Yellow Flame (JYF)

23.  Sunflower Electoral Education (SEED)

24.  Ban Cyanide Mining in Raub

Enquiry please contact Mr, Ng at 012-2658448

https://www.facebook.com/groups/damnthedams/

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白纸黑字中止巴南水坝计划

公民社会联合文告

2015年11月10日

适逢巴南人民设置路障2周年，我们，下述联署的24个公民社会组织，强烈要求砂拉越政府正视巴南区原住民反对建造巴南水坝的决心，即刻白纸黑字中止巴南水坝计划，停止侵占原住民土地，保障他们的传统习俗土地（Native Customary Land）。

尽管砂拉越首长阿德南已做出口头上承诺指示停止建设水坝工程的工作，但对于峇南人而言，砂州政府一天未以白纸黑字的形式宣布停止峇南水坝计划，峇南人仍会继续反水坝运动，抗争到底。

我们重申，巴南水坝的建造计划从未咨询当地居民的意见，违反了联合国原住民权利宣言所阐明的“自由、事先、知情及同意”（Free, Prior, Inform and Consent）的发展原则。此巨型水坝计划将迫使二万名原住民迁离世代居住的土地，消灭原住民村落几百年传下来的有形与无形文化，也将淹没如新加坡面积大的土地，对环境生态的破坏影响深远。砂拉越政府必须悬崖勒马，不仅应该停建巴南水坝，也应该一并撤销砂拉越再生能源走廊计划（SCORE）之下建议的十二座巨型水坝。

峇南人在过去两年内全天候驻守于两个反水坝营地，分别是Long Lama和KM15，以确保砂拉越能源局（Sarawak Energy Berhad）无法伺机进入水坝工地施工。其中KM15营地在去年杪的3个月内与砂源局对峙14次，将已进入工地准备施工的队伍驱赶之际，也把所有的机器移走，并在进入工地的主要路段挖一个大洞，以致没有人可踏入工地范围。

我们呼吁砂拉越政府聆听民意，了解砂拉越内陆居民所要的“发展”为何物。内陆居民拒绝出卖祖传地和河流，剥夺他们赖以生存的森林与河流资源。他们要求的是永续的发展，在保留环境生态与文化生活的基础上，提供基本社区设施以允许他们参与民主生活。职是之故，与其建造于内陆居民无益的水坝发电计划，当局应以建造道路、提供稳定那个水供电供，建立学校与医院，来发展峇南内陆。

联署组织：

1.  当今峇南 （Baramkini）

2.  反水坝小组（Damn the Dams Action Group）

3.  赵明福民主基金会 Teoh Beng Hock Trust for Democracy

4.  马来西亚社区传播中心Pusat KOMAS

5.  原住民关怀中心Center for Orang Asli Concern

6.  人民研究院Institut Rakyat

7.  彩虹性别学会Rainbow Genders Society

8.  开拓他种生活学会Institute for Development of Alternative Livestyle Lifestyle (IDEAL)

9.  隆雪华堂民权委员会 Civil Rights Committee of KL & Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall

10.马来西亚青年与学生民主运动（学运）Malaysian Youth and Students' Democratic Movement (DEMA)

11.雪隆社区协会Persatuan Masyarakat Selangor & Wilayah Persekutuan (PERMAS)

12.行动大马Tindak Malaysia

13.人民之声Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM)

14.人民之友Sahabat Rakyat

15.马来西亚反死刑与酷刑组织Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture (MADPET)

16.拯救河流组织 Save Rivers

17.之间  In Between Cultura

18.社区资讯与通讯中心 Community Information and Communications Centre (CICOM)

19.武吉班达拉也居民协会 Bukit Bandarraya Residents Association

20.关注砂拉越 Focus On Sarawak

21.国民醒觉运动 Aliran

22.柔南黄色行动小组 Johor Yellow Flame

23.向日葵选举教育运动Sunflower Electoral Education

24.劳勿反山埃委员会 Ban Cyanide Mining in Bukit Koman

查询请联络反水坝小组联络人黄先生012-2658448。谢谢。 

 https://www.facebook.com/groups/damnthedams/