malaysia:dam
DURATION: 8 MINUTES 45 SECONDS
ENGLISH SPEECH: 1 MINUTE 11 SECONDS
BAHASA MALAY SPEECH: 51 SECONDS
00.14 The Sungai Selangor valley. home to Malaysia's Orang Asli - or
original people - for countless generations. Now a way of life that has
remained virtually unchanged for centuries is threatened.
00.26 UPSOUND: (Bahasa Malay)
00:32 The building of a massive dam will flood their villages - and
the surrounding rainforest.
00.37 MENAH KUNTOM, CEREMONIAL SINGER, IN BAHASA MALAY WITH ENGLISH
TRANSLATION:
"I sing about the difficulties we face - people taking our land, people
flooding our rivers. Finding food is already difficult. Our tears are
falling, our hearts are heavy."
00.52 Nearly a thousand hectares of forest will be submerged by the new
resevoir. It'll help meet the increasing demand for water in Malaysia's
capital Kuala Lumpur, some sixty five kilometres to the south.
01.04 Nearly four hundred people in two Orang Asli villages will be forced
off their land.
01.09 They cannot envisage leaving the river - it is at the very heart of
life here. While their parents worry about the future, the children play
without a care in the world. Material objects mean little to the Orang
Asli.
01:19 They believe the tree spirits and dragons have made them
guardians - not the owners - of the forests and mountains. Such animist
beliefs don't chime with the country's overwhelmingly Muslim population.
The villagers suspect the dam is part of the official policy to assimilate
the Orang Asli into mainstream culture. They've been offered compensation
for relocation, but claim similar promises haven't been honoured in the
past.
01.49 BIDAR CHIC, VILLAGE HEADMAN, IN BAHASA MALAY WITH ENGLISH TRANSLATION:
"With the dam scheme hanging over us we don't feel free, because of the
problems that arise from it. It looks like the plans are just an excuse,
when in truth the government just wants to take land which belongs to the
Orang Asli - land that we clearly own."
02.10 The area through which the Selangor river and its tributaries meander
is rich in wildlife. A staggering two hundred bird species have been
recorded - said to be nearly half the total in the whole of Europe.
In the forest live endangered mammals like the panther
and tapir. There's an incredible range of plants - including rare species
of orchid and other vibrant flowers.
02:37 Searching for bamboo in the forest is one of the things the Orang Asli
depend upon for their livelihood.
02:43 UPSOUND
02:46 The cut poles are often carried out over long distances.
>From an early age, village boys learn how to handle a perang and to cut a
path through the jungle. They're also taught to hunt using techniques
passed on down the ages.
03.00 Back in the villages, bamboo is split into tiny pieces and sold to
make
joss-sticks. Though the work is demanding and poorly paid, Jhaya Tanduk
cannot bear the thought of uprooting. He supplements his income by picking
fruit like banana and mango and is reluctant to leave behind trees which
have been cultivated in the forest for years.
03.21 JHAYA TANDUK, ORANG ASLI VILLAGER IN BAHASA MALAY WITH ENGLISH
TRANSLATION:
"We hope we will be able to plant all sorts of trees like mangoes and
rambutans. all sorts when we move. Let's just see if we can get ones that
we ourselves will benefit from when we are relocated. That's what we hope
for. We'll just gather as many trees, including the old ones, as we can.
As long as we can carry on the agricultural practices passed down from our
ancestors."
03.56 Tanduk and his wife earn barely enough to support their five
children. They feed the family on whatever can be harvested from the forest.
.
04.09 Others have found a new source of employment in recent years - working
as boatmen on white water rafting trips. With eco-tourism booming in Sungai
Selangor - several tour operators have set up in the area. Now their future
too is threatened. The businesses have joined forces with environmentalists
and Orang Asli leaders to campaign against the
dam.
04:34 For now, tourists from Kuala Lumpur can experience the thrill of the
rapids. It's not a day they'll soon forget.
04:40 UPSOUND
04:47 The city dwellers who enjoy getting back to nature are the very ones
for whom the government is building the dam.
04:56 UPSOUND
04:59 In 1988, the capital experienced months of water rationing because of
a drought. Critics say it was simply the result of poor planning,
mismanagement and leakage.
05.12 Rafting operator Rubin Gan is involved in the protests and petitions
opposing the dam. He discusses with his employees the next step in the
campaign.
05:22 UPSOUND
05:25 As a former civil engineer, he's angry that the authorities have
dismissed less environmentally damaging alternatives to a dam - such as a
pipeline.
05.34 RUBIN GAN, RAFTING OPERATOR:
"Dams were fashionable twenty years ago. Today you know everybody is
dismantling dams. The only countries building dams now are Third World
countries. They're not using modern technology because it's quick money (to
build a dam). They don't need many companies to handle it, not many people
to answer to and its easily handled between government or contractor."
05:53 Kuala Lumpur has the modern skyline the country's long
standing Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad was determined to achieve. Building
firm Gamuda is involved with state authorities in constructing the dam. The
company has benefitted from the drive to develop the country.
06: 11 They've met oppposition from a wide range of groups. The World
Wildlife Fund believes only by preserving the forests can a sustained and
pure water source be guaranteed in the future.
06:28 ANDREW NG, WORLD WILDLIFE FUND:
"The biggest disappointment for me and of course for our organisation as
well is the area behind where the dam will be built. The forest which
supplies water is not protected in some way - to make it less accessible to
people just going in there. to make it less accessible to people (who) log
the area and to appreciate if for the services it gives you, in terms of the
water it provides you and of course you get the beautiful wildlife for
free."
07:00 Even before the authorities had considered all the environmental
reports about the site of the dam, heavy machinery was moved in to clear the
area. Opponents say it's further evidence of the government's determination
to push ahead with the project - and to meet the completion deadline of two
thousand and four.
07:23 The environmentalists believe the authorities have ignored claims the
area may be geologically unsafe - and that further logging will only add to
the existing risk of landslides.
07:30 There is also concern that a huge resevoir will increase the spread
of waterborne diseases such as malaria and Japanese Encephalitis to the
local population.
07:40 UPSOUND
07:42 This is a meal for twelve members of one Orang Asli family.
As they eke out a living, millions of US dollars will be spent creating a
hundred and fifteen metre deep reservoir which will engulf their home. It
will though provide plentiful water to other families, who live in the
country's capital and have faced rationing in the past.
08:02 Opponents of the dam say it's a short term answer that will have
damaging long term consequences. They believe the government will only ever
meet the demands of a growing population by looking to other methods of
supply.
08:14 The Orang Asli have most to lose from the scheme. They're worried
about leaving behind their homes, and their whole way of life. They don't
yet know to where they will be relocated, and whether they'll be able to
continue living off the forest. Many believe their communities will become
splintered in the move. But most of all they're worried about awakening the
dragons they believe will punish them for failing to protect the land.
08:55 ENDS