No reports of outbreaks in Bakun

By STEPHEN THEN
stephenthen@thestar.com.my

MIRI: There is no information blackout of health tragedies or a disease outbreak in the Bakun hydro-electric dam project site in the Belaga district, state leaders and the developer of the project said yesterday.

Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr George Chan Hong Nam, who is State Disaster Relief Committee chairman, said he had not received any information of nine workers in Bakun dying from melioidosis and leptospirosis (caused by rat urine bacteria) infection or that 50 other workers had contracted the disease while working at the site.

“Someone had asked me about this. Personally, I have not received any information from the health authorities about such deaths or of a disease outbreak in Bakun,” he told The Star yesterday.

“A few years ago, there were one or two cases of melioidosis but recently, no such cases were reported. There is no cover-up.” Dr Chan said there had been no major disease outbreak in Bakun or any major fatalities caused by the rat-borne disease.

The senior management of Bakun Dam developer, Sarawak Hidro, also denied there was an outbreak at the project site. Sarawak Hidro general manager for management, Hamidah Maniseh, when contacted in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, said reports about the outbreak of melioidosis and leptospirosis were rumours.

“We heard about the rumours, but there has been no deaths or major infection of workers involved. Bakun is such a big area. There is a tendency for people to associate everything happening around Bakun with the dam project.

“I don’t know if any outbreak had occurred in settlements outside the Bakun dam area, but as far as the project site is concerned, there has been no fatalities,” she said.

Hulu Rejang MP Datuk Billy Abit Joo said he had not heard about any outbreak in Bakun, which is under his parliamentary constituency. Environmental watchdog group Borneo Resources Institute director Raymond Abin said his institute had not received any report about the outbreak either.

“We have not received news of fatalities in Bakun but there is currently an outbreak of chikugunya and malaria in the region. Anyway, the Bakun dam site is out of bounds to outsiders, so we do not know the condition of the workers in the Bakun and Murum areas,” Abin said.

An online news portal had claimed that nine Bakun workers had died and 50 others infected by melioidosis and leptospirosis and that a high-ranking government officer in Sarawak had barred the release of any such information.

The news portal also quoted Health Ministry director-general Tan Sri Ismail Merican as saying he was not aware of any gag order.

Five years ago, 14 Penan children died in Bakun after a fatal measles outbreak.

The Penans were living in areas that had been cleared for the creation of the Bakun dam that measures some 64,000 hectares, roughly the size of Singapore.