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A conference on building dams – and what more ‘appropriate’ venue than Sarawak, where a dam-building frenzy has gripped policy makers. These days they have green-washed their image: they are calling it “Water Resources and Renewable Energy Development”. Interesting story here from the gossip pages of the New York Post. The Post links Low Taek Jho, a Penang boy who studied in Wharton, to UBG Bhd, a listed firm. Curious, I looked up the UBG Annual Report for 2008 and found that there is a 27-year-old group advisor/non-independent non-executive director by that name. “He currently serves as group advisor of several international corporations, involved in global private equity, mergers and acquisitions, buyout, government-togovernment offset structured investments and financing, networking and financial aid, amongst others.” Must be some 27-year-old. Check out his ‘stock pick’ from 2000. The highhanded police action against the 15 activists and indigenous reps in Kuching yesterday was a waste of resources. All they wanted to do was hand over a petition to state government leaders expressing their concern over the Murum and other dams and the displacement of natives. For that, they were arrested, reportedly for illegal assembly, and later released on police bail. The CM and his Ministers were too arrogant to even come and accept the memo. The natives have an issue that needs resolving – not arresting. This is the prevailing feeling in town, says a Kuching-based observer. Now comes news that Tenaga is planning two new hydroelectric plants in Terengganu and Pahang (see report below). Doesn’t this fly against the justification for the laying of submarine cables to transmit electricity from the Bakun Dam in Sarawak to the peninsula – that there would be no need for expensive new capacity on the peninsula? Energy Minister Peter Chin said last month that the Cabinet had agreed that opting for the Bakun submarine cable project would be better than continuing to build new power plants in the peninsula. “In the long term, it will be more economical and viable to transmit power from Bakun to Peninsular Malaysia even though the undersea cable project will be very costly,” he said. So, what’s going on? Was Peter Chin unaware of these two new dams in the peninsula – or was he simply having us on? Part One of Al Jazeera’s 101 East first screened last night |
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