As expected, no undersea cables from Bakun

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Just as I thought, there are not going to be any submarine cables from the Bakun Dam to the peninsula.

Check out this Edge report here.

It was always going to be a risky and expensive proposition to lay submarine cables across the South China Sea even though the technology is there. The project, had it gone ahead, would have been the world’s longest undersea power transmission link; it would have entered uncharted territory, an expensive journey into the unknown.

The whole rationale, during the Mahathir administration, for building this jinxed dam was to supply power to the peninsula.

Now that the original justification for the dam is no longer there, what are they going to do with all the power from the Bakun Dam? Has Tenaga now realised that Bakun could be choked with sedimentation in a few years? Check out the warnings here. And look at this lamentation from Belaga over the social and environmental cost of Bakun.

Meanwhile, what do do with all that electricity from Bakun?

Why, the idea now is to build power-guzzling industrial plants to absorb the electricity.

This increases the possibility that the electricity from Bakun could be sold to aluminium smelters in Sarawak.

Really? Let me get this straight: they spent billions of ringgit on this dam, financed by public funds while displacing already marginalised indigenous communities from their native land and causing enormous environmental damage, so that well-connected large private corporations can set up energy-guzzling plants and profit from cheap electricity?

But is Bakun really viable in the long-run? That question is partly moot as some people have already made their money from the construction of the dam and the logging above the impoundment site of the dam.

And now they are building another large dam in Murum?

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semuanya OK kot
semuanya OK kot
2 May 2010 8.01pm

Stand by for
(a) thunder and lightning from the obsolete M.
(b) more dams and power plants in West Malaysia. This is called win-win, see?

LBJ
LBJ
29 Apr 2010 12.45pm

You know. It is flea brained people like Gerakan K who will cause the destruction of this country. Not the politicians. It is the shoe polishers like him that come out with hare brained ideas. They are the scourge of the land. Down with these people.

Gerakan K
Gerakan K
30 Apr 2010 12.00am
Reply to  LBJ

Hi LBJ,

I’m glad that you have came back. Are you fully recovered from the great setback ??? Don’t be too arrogant my friend. You just sounded like Zaid. Anyway the people have spoken and your (hero) has been rejected.

To avoid disappointment, “Jom sertai BN !”

Iron
Iron
30 Apr 2010 4.56pm
Reply to  LBJ

My dear LBJ,

BN doesn’t have the monopoly on hare-brained ideas.

The Pakatan too have generated enough of their own hare-brained ideas.

Me as an independent have watched all types of hare-brained ideas from both sides, with utter dismay.

And no, they are not funny. 🙁

Gerakan K
Gerakan K
29 Apr 2010 11.17am

romerz,

According to the latest feedback by 24,997 people of Malaysia, they have no problem with BN government. The majority of people of Sarawak solidly support BN administration for decades.

Who are you anyway to label “haram” or “halal” of a particular issue ??? Are you belong to any mosquito NGO or perhaps the sore loser of any mosquito party ??? The majority rules. In Malaysia, BN rules. It is simple as that.

nkkhoo
29 Apr 2010 1.28pm
Reply to  Gerakan K

Majority rule? This is just a half-truth story.

Case 1: More people support PR in Perak, but BN rules Perak.

Case 2: With the way constituencies are drawn in Bolehland, there is high possibility minority rules.

Let say PR win 49% seats in urban areas and BN win another 51% seats in the rural areas.

In voter count, PR definitely has more votes than BN, but BN will rule the nation with the minority support.

Iron
Iron
30 Apr 2010 4.53pm
Reply to  nkkhoo

This is just a half-truth story.

Let’s be fair, ok?

The political system that our country adopts, even a win by ONE VOTE is still a win.

Sure Pakatan has lost, and it would be better for Pakatan to swallow this lost with grace.

Saying it’s “half-truth” or whatever will be labeled by BN as “sore loser”.

You don’t want to add to the ammunition of BN’s machinery, do you?

romerz
29 Apr 2010 5.20am

This Gerakan K is an … and should be ignored! He tells us that these smelting plants are cash cows! Well let me tell him what his shallow mind is incapable of figuring out, that is if he can even understand it in the first place. Sarawak has an over capacity of electricity production once Bakun comes online. Unable to channel it across peninsular Malaysia, the authorities had to seek high power users go to Sarawak to prevent Bakun being another BN white elephant. Nothing wrong with that, right? WRONG!!! Smelting plants are terrible eco destroyers and it involved billions… Read more »

nkkhoo
29 Apr 2010 1.18pm
Reply to  romerz

One of the smelting plants is financed by Mainland Chinese.

Air and water pollution in China is terrible bad, so China is smart to outsource their pollution to Sarawak.

Luckily China paper mill project in Sabah was canceled. Heavy drought in Yunnan province is said due to large scale of deforestation for paper industry.

Sean
Sean
28 Apr 2010 11.13am

I think the distance between East and West Malaysia is a terrible problem for a united nation. I think there should be an air bridge between the two halves of Malaysia – heavily subsidised for passengers only (for perhaps one trip per MyKad per year), so that Malaysians can feel like they can ‘walk’ between the two sides. Instead of building dirty industries on what much of the world regards as a jewel of nature, why not use the electricity to generate hydrogen (possibly from the dam outflow), use the hydrogen to over-fill giant (the over-fill will be the ‘freight’… Read more »

Ken
Ken
28 Apr 2010 11.08am

An undersea cable to Peninsula from Bakun costing RM10 billion was a madhatter’s idea in the first place. The power reserve in the Peninsula now stands at 66%! This means Peninsula has generating capacity of 166% the actual electricity usage.

Sarawak has no use for Bakun. It’s far more power than they need even when projected into the future.

Economically senseless ideas like the Bakun and the undersea cable are just vehicles for enrichment of cronies.

whispering9
whispering9
28 Apr 2010 10.18am

I have a few stickers which print DAM. Dam is a very inefficient source of power. Smelters are not cash cows if you build them in your own backyard. The acids used in the extraction process will destroy the environment within a very wide fall-out radius. Take a drive to our Titanium O2 plant in Kemaman to get a view of the environmental damage. That is why they can only build new smelters or extraction plants in some ignorant or greedy countries. Only a few cronies benefit. We have problems maintaining the sub-sea cables for our internet connection….and we wanted… Read more »

Iron
Iron
30 Apr 2010 4.45pm
Reply to  whispering9

The Chinese have learned that bitter lesson. They built all types of smelters in China and end up millions of Chinese got poisoned. So now they are exporting the plants. And our bolehland, with that “boleh” attitude, of course jump at the chance, and welcome China’s so-called “investment” with open-arms. That white-hair’s children all have houses abroad. Her daughter’s palace in Ottawa Canada is the 2nd most expensive property in the entire Ottawa. So when the poison come, that white-hair guy won’t be affected. He can stay in Ottawa wat … Poor poor Sarawakians. How many will be poisoned? How… Read more »

Sabahan
Sabahan
28 Apr 2010 9.26am

The extra power should have been supplied to Sabah instead !!

Sabah can supply natural gas to Sarawak for downstream processing, but Sarawak can’t do the opposite?

nkkhoo
28 Apr 2010 10.09am
Reply to  Sabahan

Sabahans are cheaper than Koreans and you people not entitled for greener natural gas power station in Lahah Latu.

Sabahan
Sabahan
29 Apr 2010 9.12am
Reply to  nkkhoo

It’s Lahad Datu, you can’t even get the spelling correct..

nkkhoo
29 Apr 2010 1.09pm
Reply to  Sabahan

Your writing is always perfect?

Sabahan
Sabahan
30 Apr 2010 9.37am
Reply to  nkkhoo

My friend,

What if I spelt your name wrongly, and short of admitting my fault, I chided you back by saying “you think my writing is always perfect ke? “

Nick
Nick
28 Apr 2010 8.11am

maybe we not aware,our country is and has been in the doomed stage for the past 50+ years.Never mind who ever responsible for this state will answer to the GOD almighty.Their days will come,let’s c how the money protect them then…

Oxymoron
28 Apr 2010 8.10am

Who needs end-users? Build it and they will come. Putrajaya was done in the same way. M could look into a crystal ball and know what to build for our children and grandchildren. When the rest of the world can’t even predict with any accuracy 10 years into the future.

Gerakan K
Gerakan K
28 Apr 2010 6.49am

The smelter plants are the cash cows. We will earn easy money until the dam K.O.

Tell me where got such an easy business in the world ???

Sabah and Sarawak must build more dams in order to create more cash cows.

nkkhoo
28 Apr 2010 10.13am
Reply to  Gerakan K

Federal government pay for the construction cost, and Talib-linked company receives “cash cow” from the smelter plant(?)

Do we need you to expose such cash cow modus operati?

O
O
28 Apr 2010 2.52pm
Reply to  Gerakan K

Gerakan K, Because of your campaign strategy, now Zaid is going to seek legal redress to declare HS election results invalid. Also, he is going sue the EC for being biased and not professional. Quite agreeable la bro, the relocating of 13,000 voters is not professional. Also the goodies given is not correct la, how can your 1PM say, to give jika menang only, agree? And transferring PR supporters to other constituency not correct, agree? Also, (alleged) phantom voters caught, not correct la, agree? And number of voting slips more than voter turnouts as claimed is again not correct in… Read more »

Gerakan K
Gerakan K
28 Apr 2010 10.11pm
Reply to  O

O, forget about it. It’s over. Zaid is the sore loser.

Just watched news. The Rasa school have received 3 millions from our BN government. It seems that everyone happy with that effort. I guess BN will possibly gain extra few thousands of HS Chinese votes in next GE.

Ong Eu Soon
Ong Eu Soon
28 Apr 2010 12.51am

We have a situation where China has no water and electricity, Sarawak on the other hand has plenty of water ,electricity and manpower. See how the smart politicians wasting this golden opportunity for not convincing foreign investors to invest in Sarawak.

nkkhoo
28 Apr 2010 3.56am
Reply to  Ong Eu Soon

According to retired Chinese hydrology Minister, China suffered severe drought recently because of many unplanned dam projects in Yunnan.

Three gorges dam was objected by scientists in China after a thorough study in 80s, but politicians made the final call to proceed regardless the consequences in the long-term.

Iron
Iron
28 Apr 2010 6.54am
Reply to  Ong Eu Soon

But oh they did !

They declared Sarawak’s coal as “renewable energy”, didn’t they??

And they signed a memorandum of sort with some Chinese firms to set up an aluminium smelting plant, didn’t they??

Andrew
Andrew
28 Apr 2010 12.14am

You betcha Anil! Politicians plundering the public purse all for their personal gain and corporate profits. Malaysia Boleh..! But hey, this is practically legitimate in Sarawak. Standard Operating Procedure for the last 50 years. Just remember to dish out some cynical financial goodies to voters during elections. RM50k per voter is now de riguer since the PM’s handout to FELDA Settlers in Hulu Selangor set the new national rate for buying votes.