PKR Putrajaya

KENYATAAN MEDIA

30 April 2009

KELULUSAN KABEL ELEKTRIK DI DASAR LAUT...!!

Parti Keadilan Rakyat merasa terperanjat kerana kelulusan yang diberi oleh kerajaan baru-baru ini untuk membina kabel kuasa elektrik menghubungi Sarawak dengan Semenanjung bagi bekalan elektrik dari Bakun.

Kerajaan mendakwa harga kabel dan penyaluran elektrik ini lebih murah daripada menjana kebolehan (kapasiti) yang perlu di Semenanjung. Kami menggesa Kerajaan supaya mengeluarkan angka-angkanya untuk diperiksa.

Selanjutnya, kami meminta Kerajaan menunjukkan di manakah EIA dan rancangan pengurusan risiko yang menjadi asas bagi membuat keputusan ini. Adakah ini satu lagi kes buat dulu kemudian keluarkan EIA?

Kami ingin bertanya: adakah Kerajaan bersedia Semenanjung terdedah kepada kemungkinan malapetaka kegagalan? Misalnya, apa akan jadi kepada kabel yang dicadangkan itu seandainya berlaku malapetaka seperti yang menimpa hubungan internet akibat gempa bumi berdekatan Taiwan pada bulan Disember 2006? Dengan internet boleh dilakukan “rerouting” (pelencongan) - bahkan inipun mengganggu internet selama beberapa minggu. Tetapi ini tidak boleh dilakukan kepada elektrik, ataupun boleh dilakuan hanya dengan harga yang mahal. Buktikan kepada kami penilaian risiko yang telah dibuat.

Kita ketahui sekarang ini rakyat Sarawak, terutama sekali mereka di kawasan pedalaman, tidak mendapat bekalan elektrik yang cukup. Mengapakah mereka tidak diberi keutamaan supaya medapat bekalan elektrik yang termampu?. Menteri yang bertanggungjawab tentu menyedari tentang sentimen yang meluas bahawa Persekutuanlah yang mendapat manfaat lebih daripada sumber-sumber hasil Sarawak. Kami yakin rakyat di Persekutuan pun mahu rakyat Sarawak mendapat manfaat utama dari Bakun. Kami tidak ingin melihat keadaan berterusan manakala orang kampung terpaksa membayar sampai RM60 sebulan bagi bekalan elektrik kira-kira 4 jam sehari saja.

Akhirnya, ada beberapa kenyataan ganjil yang dilaporkan oleh media. Akhbar The Star melaporkan menteri berkenaan menyatakan Semenanjung akan diberi bekalan sebanyak 10,000 megawatt. Bagaimana ini boleh berlaku manakala Bakun hanya boleh menjana 2,400 megawatt?

DR SYED HUSIN ALI

Timbalan Presiden, PKR
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MEDIA STATEMENT

30 April 2009

APPROVAL OF UNDERSEA POWER CABLE

Parti Keadilan Rakyat is shocked by the recent government approval of undersea cable linking Sarawak with the Peninsula and elsewhere for power supply from the Bakun dam.

The Government asserts it will be cheaper to have the cables and transmission than to build the necessary generating capacity in the peninsula. We urge the government to produce the figures for public examination.

Further we would like the Government to show: where is the EIA and the risk management plan on which the decision to go ahead was based? Is this yet another case of do first and EIA afterwards?

We wish to ask: Is the government prepared to expose the peninsula to potentially catastrophic failure? For instance, wouldn't there be catastrophic consequences if something similar to what happened to internet connections at the end of December 2006 as a result of an earthquake off Taiwan were to happen with the proposed cables? While there can be re-routing with the internet -- and even then there was severe disruption that lasted for weeks -- there cannot be with electricity, or not without extremely expensive redundancy.

Show us the risk assessment. Given the totally inadequate provision of electricity to the people of Sarawak, especially in the rural areas, shouldn't the first priority be to make sure that every household in Sarawak has access to affordable electricity supply? The Minister responsible is surely familiar with the widespread sentiment amongst Sarawakians that the peninsula benefits unfairly from the resources of Sarawak. We are certain that the people of the peninsula want Sarawakians to be the first beneficiary of Bakun.

We do not want the situation to continue where poor rural folk have to pay RM60 a month for something like 4 hours of electricity a day.

Finally, there are some strange statements in the reports. For instance, The Star reported the Minister concerned as saying that the peninsula will be supplied with 10,000 megawatts. How can that be when Bakun has a rated generating capacity of 2,400 megawatts?

DR SYED HUSIN ALI

Deputy President, PKR