[Dec 28, 2007] Bird Class - Let's Talk About Bakun DamN

Bird Class
Let's Talk About Bakun

DamN

Venue: SUARAM office
Time: 8pm – 10pm
Date: 28/12/2007

Any inquiry please contact Lau Shu Shi
Mobile phone: 012-8756179
Office number: 04-6582285
Email: suarampg@hotmail.com


The Bakun Dam was originally proposed in the early 1960s.

For more than thirty years, there have been discussions concerning the building of the Bakun Dam in the Malaysian state of Sarawak. If built, it would be the largest dam in Southeast Asia, and, at a cost of about $7 billion, the most expensive.

The Bakun Dam project (reported on in the Spring 1997 Alternatives) has been postponed indefinitely by the Malaysian government. Situated in a fragile tropical forest habitat, and requiring relocation of more than 9000 people, the project had long been criticized as environmentally unsound and socially irresponsible.

The Bakun Dam has been the subject of debate for nearly two decades. During this time a large mass of materials have been generated, documenting this debate, and that can provide the basis for a better understanding of how a project of this kind, and development issues generally, are presented and debated in public. These materials can also provide a basis for discussing the role of the media in debates about such projects, and about development.

In Malaysia, however, this debate, and public discussion generally, has been hindered by restricted access to information, and limitations on media coverage of opposing points of view.

Come and understand this DamN project!