Extracted from Malaysiakini

New blockades in Sarawak against pipeline threat

Joseph Sipalan
Aug 25, 10
11:58am

Indigenous tribes are putting up more blockades in Sarawak's northern region, but this time it is to stop a new threat to their precarious existence.

While the Penans and other tribes continue their fight against oil palm plantations and timber giants, they face another hostile front in the form of the 500km-long Sarawak-Sabah Gas Pipeline (SSGP) linking an upcoming oil and gas terminal in neighbouring Kimanis, Sabah to the liquefied natural gas (LNG) complex in Bintulu.

Indigenous Network of Malaysia (JOAS) president Adrian Lasimbang said numerous blockades have been set up by locals along the pipeline route, including in Lawas and Long Nyakit in Baram.

The local media also carried reports earlier this month on several blockades, including one in Ba Kelalan which held up construction work.

The RM1.6 billion pipeline, when completed, will go south from Kimanis, which is in Papar district, through to Beaufort and Sipitang before crossing over the Sarawak border into at least Lawas, Ba Kelalan and Bintulu.

Adrian said the project, which started in January this year, particularly affects the Lun Bawang, Kayan and Penan communities as the pipeline will claim large tracts of native customary rights (NCR) land.

"They are angry because they are not getting any compensation due to complications over their land titles," he said when contacted.

Adrian noted that the most the natives are getting is RM20 per tree if they cultivate oil palm on their land, while the payment plummets to just a few ringgit for a fruit tree.

Operational by year's end

The SSGP project was awarded by Petronas Carigali to a consortium of three companies - Dialog Group Bhd, Punj Lloyd Ltd and Petrosab Logistik Sdn Bhd - in March last year and the pipeline is scheduled to be up and operational by the end of this year.

The pipeline is part of the integrated oil and gas infrastructure project under the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (Score), and will funnel gas sourced from Sabah's offshore gas reserves to the Bintulu LNG complex.

The gas will be collected by the proposed Sabah Oil and Gas Terminal (SOGT) in Kimanis, a RM2 billion project slated for completion by 2012.

Once completed, it will receive dehydrated crude oil production from the Gumusut, Kakap and Malikai offshore oil fields, while gas production will also be sourced offshore from the Kinabalu and Kebabangan fields.

It is learnt however that the contract to build the two main components of the SOGT - an onshore gas terminal and a gas compression station - will only be awarded sometime after the Hari Raya holidays next month.

Six groups are believed to be vying for the project, with a recent report by The Malaysian Insider putting Sarawak-based Naim Cendera Sdn Bhd as the front-runner in the race.
This is still just speculation however, as economic circles put the odds in favour of Dialog by virtue of having secured the SSGP project.

Other companies in the running for the SOGT project are Kencana Petroleum Bhd, KNM Group Bhd, Sumatech Resources Bhd and a joint-venture between a Sabah company and a Chinese oil company.

Top photo courtesy of Mark Bujang, executive director, Borneo Resources Institute Malaysia (Brimas)/Adrian Lasimbang, president, Indigenous Network of Malaysia (JOAS).