Published on: Thursday, August 21, 2008 |
Sandakan: The SESB management should step aside and let others head the team if they cannot think of anything else except the coal option to address the power needs of the east coast, the Sandakan Anti-Coal-fired Power Plant Committee said Wednesday.
"Why is Sabah as a major natural gas producer with a reserve of close to 2 trillion standard cubic ft unable to enjoy the benefits of our own natural resources?" asked Chairman Stephen Wong in a statement Wednesday.
Responding to SESB Managing Director Baharin bin Din's earlier comments, he said: "Why did Baharin rule gas out simply by saying Petronas is 'not willing' to supply gas, as he warned of total blackouts facing the east coast?
"Petronas is being painted as couldn't be bothered or is it just an assumption about Petronas' real position?
"Can they not talk in earnest to expedite a happier solution in response to a dire situation especially paying attention to the voice of the people?" Wong asked.
He said "everybody is wondering the logic of Petronas being able to transfer gas to Bintulu which is 500km but cannot transfer gas to Sandakan which is only half the distance."
"It is very irresponsible for Baharin to erect a dead barrier to all other more eco-friendly alternatives by insisting that coal is the only option, which will subject the people of Sandakan to serious environmental impacts and detrimental health hazards," Wong said.
He said SESB had failed its duty in ensuring smooth electricity supply over the last decade, causing only "hardship, frustration and inconvenience" to the people of Sandakan.
"If SESB had been responsible, they would have come up with solutions to settle power deficiency long ago and not force the people to accept a coal power plant as a purported method to improve supply," he said.
"My advice to SESB is to improve its management and not threaten the people of Sandakan that coal is their only saviour," Wong added.
"If power can be transported almost a thousand kilometres from Sarawak's Bakun Dam to Johor and Kuala Lumpur, we cannot see the problem in transfering power from Kota Kinabalu to Sandakan," Wong added.
"The European Union is building a solar power house in Algeria's side of the Sahara Desert and is transmitting power from Africa to Europe but SESB is telling Sandakan folks that a mere 275km West Coast-East Coast interconnecting grid system which cost RM500m may also risk transmission disruptions.
"Baharin may not know that when the West-East coast grid system was being built, Sandakan people were promised improvement and undisrupted power supply when the grid is finished. Now they say the grid is not good enough and a coal-fired power plant is our only hope."
Wong also called on SESB to disclose the site for the proposed coal-fired plant.
"What is the reason for such secrecy? They should be transparent. The Sandakan people have the right to know and be given the chance to challenge not only the project but also the site if it were found to be a highly environmentally sensitive area," Wong said.
