International Rivers comments on SEB ‘Factsheet’

In defence of the Sarawak government’s flawed dams policy, Sarawak Energy CEO Torstein Dale Sjøtveit is currently circulating a “Factsheet” on Murum Dam aimed at convincing the media, his business partners and the public that Sarawak Energy is following international standards in its highly controversial Murum Dam construction, reports The BMF Team.

This is of highest significance as the Sarawak government and the police are currently increasing their pressure on the Penan communities who have been blockading the Murum Dam construction since 25 September 2012.

The renowned US-based NGO, International Rivers, has had a closer look at Mr. Sjøtveit’s paper and has published a detailed comment which we would like to share with you. International Rivers is concluding that “the Factsheet is misleading and inaccurate” and that Sarawak Energy has failed to meet the fundamental requirements of “the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), the Equator Principles, and the Performance Standards of the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC).”

According to International Rivers, key violations include:
- Lack of free, prior and informed consent.
- Flawed social and environmental impact assessment.
- Failure to allow the indigenous communities to choose their own development path

“As construction on the dam is nearly completed, urgent measures are now required to remedy the human rights violations that have occurred,” the US-based NGO concludes.

Please find the SEB Factsheet and a comment by International Rivers attached.

Please direct any queries or comments on the attached papers to kherbertson@internationalrivers.org.

Your BMF team