On a 20-minute walk through the rainforest of Borneo, you will encounter more tree species than exist on the entire North American continent. The distinctive biodiversity of the area attracts tourists and researchers from all over the world, in spite of the intense destruction of the rainforest from logging and palm oil plantations in the past few decades. Now, there’s a new threat to the people and the wildlife of Borneo: mega-dams.
In the Malaysian state of Sarawak in the north of the island, mega-hydro projects are driven by the state government through the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy, or SCORE. If built, these dams will force tens of thousands of people from their land, drive untold species to extinction, pollute the rivers—the lifelines of the jungle—and produce more greenhouse gas emissions per megawatt of energy than a coal-fired power plant.
The government of Sarawak has already built two dams in the proposed SCORE portfolio, but local resistance has stalled progress on the next dams scheduled to flood the forest. Since October 2013, indigenous communities in Malaysian Borneo have prevented construction of the Baram mega-dam, which would forcefully displace thousands of families. As part of the campaign to stop the Sarawak dams, The Borneo Project, a U.S.-based nongovernmental organization, has released Commerce or Corruption?, the second film in a series of short documentaries exposing the realities of proposed mega-dam construction in Sarawak. The film release coincides with the 555th day of the Baram Dam blockades.
The damage inflicted by these dams would be massive, and the benefits are still unclear. Given that there is no sound reason to build these dams, the question becomes, why are these dams being built, and why now?