Indigenous communities protest outside the IHA congress on May 22.
As leaders of the global hydropower industry gather in Sarawak, Malaysia to promote large dams as a responsible energy solution, local indigenous people have gathered outside to protest the Sarawak government’s decision to build 12 large dams on their traditional lands.
On May 21-24, the International Hydropower Association (IHA) is holding its biennial world congress in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. The congress showcases the Sarawak state government’s dam-building scheme, which will submerge 2,300 km2 of forests that are home to 40 indigenous groups. Three dams have already been built on indigenous lands in Sarawak and have caused major negative impacts on both local people and the environment. As the Sarawak government promotes the dams as a path for development, a local indigenous movement called SAVE Rivers is fighting to stop dams that violate indigenous peoples’ rights.
The state-owned electric company Sarawak Energy, has not made the dams’ environmental impact assessments public, and affected communities are being forced to negotiate their own resettlement on unequal terms. Meanwhile, corruption in the Sarawak government is rampant and well-documented. Still, Sarawak Energy will use the IHA Congress to promote the Sarawak dams as “best practice.”
The IHA claims that its voluntary auditing tool, the Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol (HSAP), could help Sarawak Energy improve its environmental and social performance. The HSAP has been used on the controversial 944 MW Murum Dam, currently being built by China Three Gorges Corporation. Yet the results of the assessment have still not been made public. Given the mistakes already made, critics point out that Sarawak Energy is using the HSAP to claim that it is building the dams responsibly.
Get involved as International Rivers joins indigenous activists facing off against global dam builders in Sarawak this week:
- Sign SAVE Rivers’ petition to stop the Sarawak Dams
- Follow SAVE Rivers on Twitter @riverssarawak and International Rivers’ Policy Coordinator @ZacharyHurwitz
For updates on the IHA congress, check out the following resources:
- Read our blog from the IHA Congress, At Sustainability Congress, Dam Builder Bars Civil Society from Dialogue
- Visit International Rivers’ Flickr sets of photos from Malaysia
- Download Fight Back Against Greenwash, our guide on how to engage with the HSAP, and Greenwashing Dams, our fact sheet about the HSAP.
Protesters evoke memories of the Bakun Dam, which was completed in 2011 and displaced 10,000 indigenous people.
For more background on the Sarawak dams:
- Read our blog on the Sarawak dams, Authoritarian Leader Lures Investors With Promise of “Responsible Dams”
- Visit our webpage on the Sarawak dams
- Watch Global Witness’ video about corruption in Sarawak
- Read the Bruno Manser Fonds’ investigative report on the Sarawak dams
Read media coverage of the IHA Congress:
- AFP: Malaysia Tribal Groups Protest World Hydro Meeting (23 May 2013)
- Asian Correspondence: Australian Greens join protests against dams in Sarawak (23 May 2013)
- Reuters: Proposed Malaysia Dams Raise Transparency, Livelihood Fears (22 May 2013)
- Free Malaysia Today: ‘We Want Development, Not Dams’ (22 May 2013)
- Free Malaysia Today: Groups Slam IHA for ‘Backing’ Taib (22 May 2013)
- Mongabay: Indigenous groups protest hydropower congress as controversy hits meeting in Malaysia (22 May 2013)
- World-Wire: Indigenous Peoples Protest Destructive Dams at Industry Conference in Malaysia (22 May 2013)
- AFP: Malaysia Hydropower Meeting to Open Amid Controversy (20 May 2013)
- Sarawak Report: Kuching Conference Threatens Image Of International Hydropower Association (17 May 2013)
- The Borneo Project: International Hydropower Association’s World Congress: Excluding Indigenous Peoples & Supporting Corruption
View SAVE Rivers’ video clips from the May 22nd protest (~1 minute) or watch the video on Youtube
View more photos from the May 22nd protest or visit our Flickr page
