RESPECT DOE'S DECISION TO REJECT COAL PLANT DEIA: MASIDI

Respect DOE's decision to reject coal plant DEIA: Masidi

Kota Kinabalu: Everyone should respect the decision by the Department of Environment (DOE) to reject the Detailed Environmental Impact Assessment (DEIA) for the proposed coal-fired power plant in Lahad Datu.

State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister, Datuk Masidi Manjun, said the decision by the DOE Director-General was strictly based on facts submitted in the report by the consultants appointed by the proponent of the 300MW plant, which was to be sited at Sinakut in the Dent Peninsular.

"At this point of time, all quarters should respect the decision of the Director-General.

"There is no other ulterior (motive) to me it's basically a professional decision (based on) the public report (on which) everybody have given their piece," he said, to reporters after opening the Sabah Arts and Photography Society Members Photography exhibition here, Thursday.

Under normal procedures, he said, the project proponent has a choice of scrapping the project or appeal for another DEIA.

"As we all might remember, the Prime Minister and Chief Minister themselves have given an assurance that the Government is going to act based on professional reasoning I assure you this (the decision) is one of that," Masidi said.

"I've met those who have given their opinions and I told them in no uncertain terms that the State Government is bound to strictly comply with the Terms of Reference (TOR) provided and prepared for this project."

To a question on whether another DEIA was in the offing, he said: "(You) have to ask that question to the proponent of the project and of course (if any), I hope it would be dictated by conscience and public opinion."

To another question, he said there was always another alternative towards power generation but that the scale and cost were the main considerations.

"The price of fuel keeps going up these days (so) the Government picked this (coal) because it is the cheapest to generate electricity but it comes with its own risks," Masidi said.

"We can't really say this is the best because the best always has something attached to it (but) we cannot depend on fuel for power generation forever."

Sabah Environment Department Director, Yabi Yangkat, said a key point given by the DOE for rejecting the DEIA, prepared by a team of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) consultants, was that many important environmental parameters were not addressed in the report.

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'Good reason to call off the project'

"We thank the DOE for carrying out their duty without fear or favour.

Now that a Federal agency has made such a decision, we hope the State Government too will take a stand.

"We should all collectively chart a new path towards clean energy that helps create jobs. Going into alternatives to coal, including renewable energy, is a solution for Sabah, as our studies have shown.

"Let us not waste anymore time and energy. We are confident alternatives can be put in place effectively in the short term,”

Wong Tack, Sabah Environmental Protection Association (Sepa) President

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Sabah Subscribes To 1Malaysia Concept Over Proposed Coal Plant - Activitst

The Sabah Government, through the DOE, had acted professionally.

Thanked Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak for their assurance that the government would not bulldoze through the proposed coal-fired power plant project, without taking into consideration the DEIA report and public opinion.

"This is what we want. From the feedback, the majority of the people, including NGOs in the state, are not in favour of the proposal...obviously, the Sabah Government took serious note of this,"

Sabah consumer and social activist Datuk Patrick Sindu

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SAPP Proposes Natural Gas Power Plant In Sabah

A natural gas power plant would provide cleaner energy and would be cheaper and faster to build than a coal-fired plant.

That a gas pipeline from Kimanis to Sandakan or Tawau might cost RM1.2 billion, which would be much less than the RM1.7 billion to build a coal-fired power plant.

A natural gas power plant was a sensible solution after the Detailed Environmental Impact Assessment (DEIA) of the proposed coal-fired power plant in Lahad Datu was rejected.

SAPP president Datuk Yong Teck Lee