Save Sabah!

JAKARTA, April 23 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak said today that Indonesia welcomed the possibility of Malaysia exporting electricity from the Bakun hydroelectricity project in Sarawak to Kalimantan.
The Prime Minister said Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono reacted positively when he brought up the matter at their bilateral meeting at the Istana Merdeka which was also attended by ministers from both sides.
“I have offered the possibility of us assisting Indonesia in fulfilling the energy needs in Kalimantan and Presiden Susilo has welcomed the offer,” he told Malaysian journalists at the end of his two-day visit to Indonesia today.
Najib said ministers of both countries would hold follow up meetings to discuss the matter as well as the passage for the construction of undersea cables to carry electricity from Bakun to Peninsular Malaysia.
The Prime Minister said about 70 per cent of the submarine cables would pass through Indonesian’s waters in Natuna Islands in the South China Sea.
Asked whether Malaysia would offer any special price for the electricity to be exported to Kalimantan, Najib said, pricing was not discussed yet.
The Prime Minister said Malaysia decided to redevelop the Bakun project as it was crucial to meet the country’s energy requirement especially in the peninsula.
“This is also to enable us to ensure that our energy mix can be enhanced through the hydro component which is more sustainable compared to gas which is a finite resource or coal which needs to be imported,” he said.

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Kota Kinabalu: The prospect of Sabah being able to benefit from power supplied by Sarawak’s Bakun project does not arise and Tenaga Nasional Berhad is, instead, looking in detail at the options available for Sabah in the long term.

"My answer to you (possibility of Bakun power exported to Sabah) is it is not likely, (because) it is already committed," said TNB Chairman Tan Sri Leo Moggie.

"But on whether the future hydro potential in Sarawak can be used for Sabah, we don’t know because it is an option that needs to have a long-term examination," he told reporters during a question and answer session-cum-briefing with the media at Wisma SESB, Monday.

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600-strong Sandakan environ walk

Kan Yaw Chong

KOTA KINABALU: Six hundred people of diverse backgrounds joined the first ever Sandakan “Walk for the Environment ” themed “Unite Against Climate Change”, Sunday.

Sandakan Municipal Council President, Dr James Wong, flagged off and joined the 4km walk which started at the Town Padang and went through the town centre leading to the coastal Sim Sim Road, back to the town centre and ended at the Town Padang.

Leading the pack included former Speaker of the State Legislative Assembly Datuk Seri Panglima Hassan Alban Sandukong, his wheel chaired wife Datin Nuri and a slew of NGO and community leaders, including Au Kam Wah, State Assemblyman for Elopura, and Chong Hon Min, former Independent Member of Parliament for Sandakan.

“This is a historic event”‘ said Charles Chow, Chairman of the Sandakan Pro-Tem Committee which organized the event.

He noted the “obvious unity” of all races and strata of society against climate change and thanked the police, the Council President, his committee members and the public for their support.

SEPA (Sabah Environment Protection Association) President, Wong Tack, said the extraordinary spirit of the Sandakan community to protect the future of their children and to ensure Sabah always remains green is worth emulating.

Charles, meanwhile, attributed the zestful turnout to concern and awareness as a result of wide coverage in the local dailies, FM Sandakan, distribution of flyers and by word of mouth.

Charles had earlier said relevance of the walk, citing how every Malaysian as well as foreign visitor ranging from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan have complained about the sweltering heat waves of late.

“Recent records and observation has shown carbon dioxide buildup to 450 parts per million (ppmV) globally while a study on surface temperatures in major towns across Malaysia carried out by professors at UKM had registered an alarming increase by 3.5 degrees Celsius,” Charles citied.

“This reflects abnormal variations to the expected climate within the earth’s atmosphere,” he said.  “I was in Kuala Lumpur recently and my watch with a temperature meter recorded 36 degrees Celsius while normal maximum in the past was about 33 degrees,” be said.

“There is much economic advantage to stimulate investment for the mitigation of local greenhouse gas emissions,” Charles suggested.

“We should therefore seriously look into these mitigation measures,” he added, citing the need to change everyday lifestyle, behavior, the adoption of energy efficient technologies, government rewards and incentives to industries for green initiatives, reduction of greenhouse emissions to raise air quality and health, investment in future energy capital with the environment in mind and strong emphasis on green technology, energy efficient buildings and encourage agricultural practices that help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and stress the protection of Sabah’s rainforests as a powerful mitigation factor,” he said.

He said it was “essential” to raise awareness on emission reduction at all levels of society.  “This is what the SEPA Sandakan effort is all about,” he pointed out, citing how the florescent bulb use 65 per cent less energy than filament bulb and a host of other potential actions that will make the difference, according to him.

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Dear readers,

SEPA Sandakan ( Sandakan Chapter of Sabah Environmental Protection Association ) will be organising a Walk for the Environment inconjunction with World Environment Day.

All are invited. Let us all UNITE against Climate Change.

The program is as below:

Date : Sunday, 24 May 2009

Location  : Sandakan Town Padang

• 7-8 am.: Registration and sale of items
• 8.45 am : Welcome address
• 9.00 am : Flag off by MPS President
• 9-11:45 am :  Walk through town, sim sim and back to town padang
• 12 noon : Ends

Please spare the time and bring along your family, friends to support this noble cause save our environment save SANDAKAN  ; Save for our future generation.

Make it your commitment today!

Popularity: 2% [?]

Kota Kinabalu: Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui said the Government is not giving up hope to find the most suitable location for the proposed coal-fired power plant in Sabah.

However, he admitted that the setting up of the plant "is not so pressing at the moment", as the short and mid-term measures taken by the Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) are expected to address the power demand in the State.

Among the measures were the streaming of the plant by IPP Ranhill Powertron in Sepanggar with the capacity of 190 megawatt by end of this year and a 300 megawatt gas-fired power plant in Kimanis by Petronas, the latest by 2013. Two other projects as solutions were the Upper Padas hydro electric plant and Liwagu Hydro electric plant, both with the capacity of 150 megawatt each.

He said in addition to the 21 mobile generator sets which have a total capacity of 21 megawatt, the Prime Minister had on Thursday agreed to approve an immediate allocation of RM26 million for SESB to buy another 20 mobile generator sets. He said Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak gave the nod when he (Chin) raised the power issue in Sabah.

"The Prime Minister was very concerned and understands well about the electricity supply problem in Sabah because he has been given constant update on the issue by the Chief Minister," he said.

The mobile generator sets would be able to address the load shedding and blackouts in Sabah, he said, adding it would be placed in strategic locations as an immediate relief to the shortage of power in these areas.

"So for the short and medium term (2009 to 2018) we will be able to cater demand for Sabah, he said after paying a courtesy call on Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman at his office in Wisma Innoprise, near here Friday.

Besides the possibility of channeling electricity to the East Coast of Sabah – which is facing acute shortage – from the Kimanis 300 megawatt gas-fired power plant, he said, another possibility was to bring power from the Bakun Dam in Sarawak.

"If the power can be channeled to the peninsula through underwater cable then why can’t (we try for) Sabah," he said. (See separate story).

Nonetheless, he said for the long term the Government could not give precise outlook on the long-term situation of the power supply in Sabah.

In this respect, he said the Federal and State governments would continue to discuss the best site for the proposed coal-fired power plant.

"As the Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister I will assure that in terms of power generation it will be the best model (if a coal-fired power plant is to be built in Sabah).

"It is like the one in Sarawak and those in the Peninsular Malaysia. It will not be what some people say as polluting. So far, we are still in discussion with the State Government on this matter."

Chin assured that the measures would be co-ordinated, especially in meeting the deadline.

"We want to assure the people that the Government is a people’s government as mentioned by the Prime Minister People’s First," he added.

When asked to elaborate whether it means that the coal-fired power plant is taking a back seat for now, he said, "we are still looking and we are not giving up but it is not so pressing at the moment

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