Marking 500 Days of the Baram Blockade
MIRI – 7 th March . Today, the Baram villagers, resisting the proposed Baram dam, mark the 500 th day since the blockades were launched. On the 23 rd October 2013, villagers from 30 settlements in the Baram district set up blockades in Long Lama and Long Keseh to foil works on the Baram dam project. The blockaders evicted workers who were carrying out the preparatory works for the proposed dam and their machineries from site. Based on the plan by Sarawak Energy Bhd (SEB) the proposed site for the Baram dam is a location between Long Keseh and Na’ah which is about 250 Km from Miri city. Since the start, the two blockades have been manned by various villagers from all over the Baram basin. Preparatory works carried out for the dam which triggered the blockades were geological surveys, construction of access roads and preparation of quarries facilities. The works were carried out although the mandatory Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was not completed nor was there ...