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LAHAD DATU: Fishermen who will have to move if a 300 megawatt coal-fired power plant is built in the seaside village of Kampung Sinakut are worried about their future.

This was revealed to several Green Surf and Save Sandakan members who visited the village, about a hundred kilometers from here, at the edge of Felda Sahabat.

Ali Hia, 46, said he attended a meeting at the nearby Felda Sahabat resort and was told by several officials that villagers will have to vacate the place they have called home for decades.

"Someone mentioned that maybe we have to move to Sungai Merah, which is quite far from our village. We are also worried because Sungai Merah is not next to the sea like Sinakut is.

"We are not sure about compensation. There was no proper answer when we asked them. Most of us do not want the plant but we are helpless. We just believe what our village leader tells us," Ali, who has three children, said.

He said he was not sure who the officials were but assumed that they must be from Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) or representatives of the company that will build the plant.

Ali Admitted that he did not know that there were health hazards associated to coal, or the impact it would have on his livelihood when the area at sea he depends on to catch fish becomes warmer from plant discharge.

"No one ever told us that coal will have an impact on our health and resources," he said.

Another villager Mohd Jainal Musa, 51, said he does not want to move from Sinakut, and like Ali, is not sure what will happen if the plant is built.

"Our lives have always been hard, and we cannot even repair our homes because Felda has cut all the trees… we have no wood to improve the condition of our houses.

"I wonder what will happen next, or if these promises of compensation will be met because no one seems to be sure," Mohd Jainal who has seven children said.

Mohd Jainal and Ali both said they were promised jobs in the construction period, but that all they will be able to do is hard labour as they are uneducated.

"Maybe we will be asked to carry cement bags. Once the plant is built, there will be nothing for us. All we know is how to fish, and we would like it to remain that way." they said.

Former Sabah State Legislative Assembly Speaker, Datuk Hassan Alban Sandukong who was against the second proposed site in Sandakan, explained to village elders in Sinakut and a nearby settlement about the project.

Hassan said although he is with Umno, it is his duty to speak up in the interest of the people.

"We are here to help you understand the real issue. Coal plants are dangerous to health due to gases they emit, and fish in the sea will be poisoned.

"I know that some of you were told that fish are thriving in places like Manjung, but toxins are collected in the fish and over time, it won’t be safe for you. At least think of your children and grand children," Hassan said.

He said villagers must think hard, because once the project starts, it will be too late to regret the decisions that they make now.

Sabah Environment, Protection Association (Sepa) president Wong Tack said villagers at the fringes of Felda Sahabat do not even have proper roads, clinics or other basic amenities.

"This is a serious violation of human rights. Felda has made multi millions in profit from this area in more than 20 years and they have not helped these fishermen," he said.

Daily Express 14th June 2010 .

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