THERE are other alternatives to the water shortage on Sabah’s west coast than spending billions of ringgit on a mega dam in Papar, said a Sabah Bersatu leader today.

Penampang Bersatu chief John Ambrose said the Papar dam will not only take away the livelihood of the indigenous people but destroy huge tracts of fertile land.

“I’d like to urge the state government to reconsider the construction of the dam, despite having claimed that the location has been moved into the Papar district.

“Regardless, there will still be indigenous folk affected by the project, taking away their heritage, livelihood and not to mention the destruction the project will bring to Mother Nature,” he said in a statement.

Recently, Sabah Infrastructure Development Minister Peter Anthony visited what he said the final site of the Papar dam in Kg Mondoringin.

The Papar dam was proposed as the replacement to the Barisan Nasional-introduced project called Kaiduan dam.

Penampang and Papar are adjacent districts.

Local anti-dam activist said Kg Mondoringin was the original site of the Kaiduan Dam, adding the location remained the same but only the name is changed.

According to Ambrose, the state government has not come up with a feasibility study for the dam and details on how many people and land will be affected are not known.

“There will be endless sleepless nights for the people of Penampang as long as this issue is not resolved.

“Every day I meet and get calls from worried people in Penampang who are expressing their objection towards the construction of the dam.”

He said the government should also heed the advice of Sabah’s geologist expert Dr Felix Tongkul, who had proposed the area gazetted as a natural water catchment area.

“The best storage system is the one championed by Tongkul. Don’t cut the trees and keep large forest reserves. That is free storage made by God.”

He added Bersatu is in the midst of filing a working paper on the water catchment system as proposed by Tongkul to present to the government.

Meanwhile, Penampang Armada chief Ceasar Mandela Malakun has urged the state government to handle the matter with sensitivity as it affects the indigenous people.

He said it is worrying that the project is given the go-ahead without publishing a feasibility study or consultation with the stakeholders.

“The state should be more transparent, otherwise there may be resistance from the public.

“Nobody seems to know where the dam will be and it seems even ministers and assistant ministers do not know.”

Malakun said not many people realise that the former infrastructure development minister Joseph Pairin Kitingan had announced a compensation package to help villagers start anew.

“The package includes 0.3 acres of residential land for each household with a detached house, resettlement allowance of RM10,000 per household, payment of ‘sogit’ (customary fines) for burial grounds, financial compensation for loss of land, crops and building, five acres of agricultural land with land title for each household and RM500 monthly allowance for three years for each household.

“The new settlement was to have a school, health clinic, police post, tarred roads, electricity, water, telecommunication services and modern sewage, drainage, waste management, church, surau, community hall, sports field, grocery store, cultural centre and a burial ground.

“What is the package given now?” – July 7, 2019.