MIRI – 7th March. Today, the Baram villagers, resisting the proposed Baram dam, mark the 500thdays since the blockades were launched. On the 23rd 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 any approval sought from the land owners of the Native Customary Right (NCR) land used for the works. The NCR lands belong to the villagers in the area, who were angered by the unethical conducts of the dam builders especially the intrusion into their land and farms.

Beside the preparatory works, logging companies are still rushing to harvest the timber in Ulu Baram in anticipation of the Baram dam project. During the last 500 days, the blockaders have been confronted by these companies and their representatives who claimed to have legitimate logging permits for normal logging activities. On top of that, challenges were also given by the Sarawak Forestry Department and armed police personnels who for a period stationed their officers at the blockade site in Long Keseh and forcefully took down the road barrier. The barricade at Long Keseh was taken down by the loggers and forestry officers twelve times within the last 500 days and each time this happened, it was installed back by the blockaders.