SAPP calls government to rethink dam project at Kadamaian River

KOTA BELUD, 28 Jan 2010: Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) Kadamaian urged the Government to rethink the construction of the proposed dam at Kg. Tambatuon near the Kadamaian River .

SAPP Supreme Councillor also cum Kadamaian CLC Chairperson, Agnes alias Moifun Liewpin, called on the Government not to carry the proposed development.

It is also known that villagers at Kadamaian State constituency particularly at Kg. Tambatuon are up against the construction of the dam fearing the project could put their lives in danger.

It is learnt that the village chiefs have sent letters to the relevant authorities including the police and the project consultant expressing their disapproval and the possibility of villagers resorting to action against the proposed project.

Some 193 villagers at Kampung Tambatuon where the dam is to be sited had signed a letter urging the government to scrap the project.

As at now, there is no news from the Government to scrap the project, instead the village chief had received few calls at end of last month from a person who represented the consultant that the said project had been approved and is to be carried out soon.

Agnes said that the proposed dam will affect some 20 villages at Kadamaian.

"More than a thousand people will be affected and dislocated. Their social and economic fabric will be changed when they are plugged from the land where they have always lived, and where their fore-fathers have always lived", she said in a statement here today.

It is understood that Kampung Tambatuon and the neighbouring kampungs are planted with rubber, fruits and hill paddy, which bring good returns to them for many generations.

According to her, Kampung Tambatuon is a village blessed with beautiful landscapes and the Tambatuon River rich with high value fishes.

Agnes further said that the Tagal (harvesting fish at the river once a year) is a unique culture being practiced by the people residing along the river for many years and it is now a new tourism product, which attracts many. There are now numerous home-stay in the area as well.

It is learnt that the Federal Government had approved the dam project and a Federal Minister had announced it during his visit here some time last year.
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