Save Sandakan

Greenies query go-ahead for coal plant

Joe Fernandez | Apr 7, 09 1:31pm

Green activists in Sabah are seeing red following the public admission by the Department of Environment (DOE) on April 1 that it has approved a 40MW coal-fired plant in Sipitang.

This is for the Indian-owned SFI (Sabah Forest Industries), initially a state-owned enterprise which was subsequently privatised to the Lion Group.
“This (approval) has clearly been done without any public discussion with stakeholders,” fumed Sabah Environmental Protection Association (Sepa) president Wong Tack.
He disputed the DOE claim that there was NGO participation by way of the Environmental Action Committee (EAC), saying: “We have been told by the EAC secretariat that it was not involved in the EIA for the plant.”
The EAC, it was pointed out, is not a NGO  but an informal forum for the state Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment and environmental NGOs to resolve related issues. It began as a joint initiative of the state Environment Ministry and Sepa.
Sepa urged the DOE to come clean on the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) study and Detailed EIA (DEIA) and to reveal the names of the consultants who prepared the reports, as well as how many of them are Sabahans.
It expressed fear that the EIA and the DEIA may be biased, given remarks attributed to Sabah Federal Department of Environment director-general Abdul Razak Abdul Manap in the local Chinese media.
He was quoted as saying that “the review committee set up by the DOE, the State Economic Planning Department, the federal Economic Planning Unit, the Forestry Department and the EAC had come to a decision based on scientific evidence”.
The DOE, according to the reports, “has made a decision to approve the EIA report for the construction of a coal-fired power plant and extension plan by the Sabah Forest Industries Sdn Bhd” but the final decision will be made by the state government.
Wong also expressed shock over a related statement by Abdul Razak that the SFI has in fact been burning coal since 2007 ostensibly using “clean coal technology”.
Abdul Razak reportedly told the media: “Coal burning is no big deal since the SFI has already been doing it (since 2007). Coal is not evil.”
Wong warned, however, that “there’s no such thing as clean coal technology at the moment or in the next 20 years, by which time all the damage would have been done to the environment”.
“Sepa would like to know who authorised the import and burning of coal in Sabah? Was any EIA done and who is monitoring the air quality in the SFI area?” he asked.
“It is grossly unfair to the people of Sabah, particularly Sipitang if there has been no monitoring of the burning of coal. It is even more shocking to learn that the state government has not been consulted on such an important issue.”
Wong said DOE should reveal when the DEIA for coal burning was conducted by SFI and which department issued the licence to import and burn coal, since there are no public records of any such licences being issued.
He also questioned if proper equipment is being used, where the toxic ash is being dumped and what emissions controls have been set up.
“All these should be in the monthly monitoring reports for 2007 and 2008,” he added.

Opposition to plant
Sepa is leading opposition against SFI, now in the hands of India’s Ballarpur Industries Ltd, against embarking on any of its ambitious expansion plans “until it has fixed the chronic pollution in Brunei Bay” which is shared by Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei.
This follows the completion of a DEIA by Chemsain Konsultant Sdn Bhd for SFI’s proposed pulp and paper mill expansion at the company’s complex in the Sipitang district border neighbouring Sarawak.
The Chemsain Study notes that the proposed pulp and paper mill and its associated ancillary facilities including a coal-fired power plant and onsite secure landfill are categorised as proscribed activities under the Schedule Environmental Quality (Prescribed Activities) (Environmental Impact Assessment) Order 1987, under Section 34A of the Environmental Quality Act 1974
Sepa’s stand on the SFI coal-fired power plant has won the backing of the Sandakan Anti Coal-fired Power Plant Action Committee.
“It is well known that the by-products of coal burning are hazardous and harmful to human beings, animals and plants,” said the committee in a statement condemning the proposed SFI coal-fired power plant in Sipitang.
The committee is fighting a proposal by Tenaga Nasional Bhd and its majority-owned subsidiary Sabah Electricity Board Sdn Bhd to build a 300MW coal-fired power plant at the Palm Oil Industrial Cluster (POIC) in Seguntor, Sandakan, not far from the world-famous Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary.

The committee instead wants a gas-fired plant to be set up in the east coast to meet the growing energy needs.
The state government is awaiting a EIA and DEIA report on the proposed Seguntor coal-fired power plant before making a decision.
State Minister for Tourism, Culture and Environment Masidi Manjun said the state government accepts that any DEIA on industrial matters falls under the jurisdiction of the federal government.
However, Sabah has a strict environmental policy to protect the tourism industry and it is only proper that the DOE should consult the state government before announcing any approval, he said.
“Under normal procedures, any such proposal should be tabled at the state cabinet meeting for approval before any final decision is announced,” said Masidi.
Sabah and Sarawak alone, according to the Mineral and Geosciences Department, has an estimated 300 million tones coal reserves worth over RM150 billion. The country’s total coal reserves have been estimated at 1.72 billion tonnes.
Still, Malaysia imports most of its coal from China, Indonesia and Australia to support, among others, local power generation, cement, iron and steel plants. By 2010, Malaysia’s annual demand for coal is estimated to reach 19 million tonnes.

http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/101860

Popularity: 3% [?]

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.