Dialogue fails to achieve resolutions
Published on: Thursday, December 18, 2014
PENAMPANG: A dialogue between the District Office, relevant government departments, the project owners and two NGOs – Agaras and Pacos – at an old Balai Raya at Kg Notorus, on Tuesday, failed to achieve any resolutions regarding two projects strongly opposed by villagers from Kg Notorus, Babagon and Tampasak, here.Assistant DO Henry Idol, representing the District Officer, ended the meeting with a promise to bring up all matters raised by the villagers to the higher authorities and thus became just a fact-finding mission.The first issue regarding the large hill-cutting at Togudon involving nearly 200 acres was initially considered closed by the chairman because a stop work order was already issued to the land cum project owner and the pollution due to muddy water would reduce gradually. ADVERTISEMENT Earlier, a Fisheries Department officer confirmed that 28 existing "tagal" or fish conservation systems, five eco-tourism spots and the latest addition of tagal at Terawi were all affected by the acute muddy water of the Moyog River and even killed the fish.However, several speakers from the floor said the problem had been ongoing for the last three years and that the land cutting was still ongoing as usual. The roads leading to the site are barricaded and the landowner did not even turn up for the dialogue.The officer from the Land Office admitted he himself could not enter the land for inspection, prompting the sole lady speaker from the floor to ask what is so special about this landowner that even the authorities cannot take action. ADVERTISEMENT She also brought up compensation matters regarding damaged crops, access roads and buildings below the hill cutting. Due to the secrecy of this project, the villagers said rumours have been circulating that thousands of ducks and pigs will be reared there, and a proposal for a hotel is even included.
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Regarding the proposal of a quarry at Kg Notorus, which according to the villager is just two blocks of land or 1.5km from the Babagon dam structure, the quarry owner and consultant who attended, explained that the dam is designed to withstand earthquakes to a magnitude of 4.5 on Ritcher's scale while the vibration level of quarry blasting is only 0.16 mm/s and air-blast of 101 decibels. No one in the meeting could explain how the technical figures were related to one another or show that the dam would not be affected.On the claim that villagers from Kg Notorus and action committees have been involved in the Environment Impact Assessment and documented in the report, the representatives from the NGOs stood up and challenged the meeting to read out the names of the villagers involved. The chairman could not because not all documents were available which prompted the villagers to say none of them has ever been interviewed.The proposed quarry owner said attending this dialogue showed they are responsible operators compared to the other who did not turn up. He asked the villagers to consider that a quarry currently in operation at Minintod is quite close to blocks of flats. However, this was shot down by the villagers as no comparison.The departments that sent representatives included Environment, Land and Survey, Mineral and Geoscience, Drainage and Irrigation, Water, Fisheries, Public Works, district police and Penampang District Council. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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Leading the villagers were Village Chief Kg Notorus Johnny Gantasim, JKKK Chairman Notorus Alex Ginsai and Moyog Village Chief John Gintos.The dialogue ended without any indication if there will be a follow-up or how or when the villagers will know the outcome.