Tawau: The commencement of the RM419 million Malaysian geothermal power plant with a capacity of 130MW here without seeking approval from the Tawau Municipal Council is again evidence of arrogance displayed by the Federal Ministry or authority, said Tawau MP Datuk Chua Soon Bui. She said any Federal ministry or departments or agencies should know the rule of law that they cannot override any State or local authorities in Sabah.
She said the project might have been approved by the Federal ministry or by higher authority, but the role and the authority of the TMC should not be undermined or insulted. "It is time that the Federal authorities learn to respect the local authorities before any major project is to be implemented," she said in a statement.
To this, she complemented the brave decision taken by Datuk Ismail Mayakob, President of TMC for issuing a 'stop order' to Tawau Green Energy Sdn Bhd until the latter has submitted the development paper to be studied and approved for the blue-print development master plan in Tawau.
She said she welcomed the geothermal power plant as a sustainable green energy production but that it must be subjected to Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study and approval.
She said the expensive lesson learnt from the abandoned coal power plant in Sahabat, Lahad Datu, had cost taxpayers more than US$22 million or about RM70 million in compensation because the EIA was not done or approved prior to the agreement. She queried why if the geothermal power plant can be attached to the power grid nine kilometres away, why can't the 64MW power plant at Taman Millenium be built far from the grid and the housing estates.
Chua meanwhile also expressed hope that Tan Sri Dr Fong Chan Onn, chairman of the newly formed Sustainable Energy Development Authority under the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water would provide job opportunities to Sabahan graduates and senior staffs.
"It is not good enough if such big projects do not provide employment opportunity or business participation for local Sabahans or companies," she said.
