Location:
Interior of the State of Sarawak, on the island of Borneo, in
mountainous area. Land currently occupied by tropical forests,
with shifting
cultivation, some logging, a few plantations
Components of project:
- Rock-filled concrete dam, 204
metres in height, generating 2400 MW;
largest in South East Asia
- Reservoir, 70,000 hectares in
area
- Transmission lines to Sarawak
coastline (ª 600 kilometres)
- Undersea cable beneath South
China Sea (650 kilometres--world's
longest)
- For basic
technical information about the project see:
Chronology:
- Initial survey, early 1960s;
more studies. early 1980s
- First approved by government
in 1986, shelved in 1990
- September 1993: revived by Malaysian
government
- January 1994: contract awarded
to Ekran Berhad
- February-April 1995: Ekran completes
EIA of project
- March-May 1995: EIA approved
- April 1995: Ekran begins clearing
reservoir area
- June 1995: International Rivers
Network condemns EIA
- December 1995: NGOs hold forum
on Bakun
- June 1996: Judge rules that
Ekran failed to follow EIA regulations
- July 1996: Ekran obtains interim
appeal of ruling
- October 1997: Diversion tunnels
to be completed, construction of dam to begin
- 2003: Completion of project?
Major participants in the
controversy:
- Malaysian non-governmental organizations
opposed to
the project
- indigenous peoples affected
by the project
- non-governmental organizations
outside Malaysia
opposed to the project
- Malaysian state and federal
governments
- Ekran Berhad (developer of the
Bakun project)
- international corporations contributing
to the Bakun
project
|