Dam will damn us, say villagers
By Queville To, The Malaysian Insider
KOTA KINABALU: The villagers of Kampung Tambatuon in Kota Belud unanimously rejected the state government’s offer of an “annual gratuity” of RM500,000 as well as a study tour to Kedah as an inducement to make way for the construction of a dam in their village.
The mostly farming community, who have been battling the government relocation, plan pointed out that they are already earning far more from their agriculture activities which include padi and rubber plantations as well as orchards.
The amount offered by the state government works out to about RM500 for each of them annually. The village currently consists of 898 villagers.
According to Singkui B Tinggi, the former village chief of the picturesque and fertile village located at the foot of Mount Kinabalu, most villagers are currently earning between RM5,000 and RM10,000 per month.
He noted that a majority of the villagers there owned rubber plantations ranging from 10 acres to more than 20 acres, besides farms for other agriculture produce.
Two Barisan Nasional elected representatives have been pushing for the construction of a dam at the site which they said could generate RM500,000 for the villagers.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Singkui disclosed that the decision to reject the offer made by Kedamaian state assemblyman Herbert Timbun Lagadan in July this year was reached at an emergency meeting held by the Tambatuon Dam Action Committee (TDAC) at the village’s mini hall on Sept 11.
“We hereby reject all the offers made to us by Herbert and Abdul Rahman Dahlan (MP for Kota Belud). We do not wish to sell our village,” he said.
He reminded the two that the villagers voted for them in the last general election so that they could further improve the economy of the place, rather than threaten their livelihood and destroy their village.
Poor irrigation, not water shortage to blame
The Village Action Committee recently also submitted a memorandum on the matter to Chief Minister Musa Aman and his deputy Joseph Pairin Kitingan.
Kampung Tambatuon is nestled on the banks of Sungai Kadamaian and Sungai Kilombon which are fed by waters running off Mt Kinabalu.
The place is popular with tourists who flock to the village to see the unique “tagal” practice in Sabah, a sustainable freshwater fishing practice that allows harvesting only once a year.
Since news of the proposed construction of the RM450 million dam first surfaced early last year, it has drawn strong protests and criticism from hundreds of villagers, environmentalists and academics.
