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Sydney Morning Herald, 13 April: Coal projects in Indonesia risk damage to one of the world’s great natural treasure troves. Australian companies are pushing ahead with plans to construct open-cut coalmines in a conservation area of Borneo described by the World Wildlife Fund as “one of the planet’s richest treasure troves”. Brisbane-based Cokal announced it … Continue reading
Mongabay blog, 18 December: Its natural beauty and colorful Hindu culture have drawn visitors to Bali since the 1930s. But more than three decades of rampant development since mass tourism took hold have left the island and its people in a critical state. Bali is struggling with a severe water shortage, huge volumes of waste, a … Continue reading
Crikey, 10 December: There is a sober lesson in the Bakun dam saga for other communities along Sarawak’s rivers and elsewhere in south-east Asia, writes freelance journalist Jenny Denton. In the hinterland of Borneo an old lady is perched on a couch improvising into a microphone. A chorus of about 50 people, cross-legged on the … Continue reading
Crikey, 19 November: In Sarawak, in Malaysian Borneo, hundreds of tribal people are blockading big dam projects that threaten their land. Freelance writer Jenny Denton says Australian businesses with links to government are among the international companies helping to build them. “Good fishing!” Johannes yells from the front of the longboat, where he’s sitting cross-legged … Continue reading
Mongabay.com, 5 November: Hundreds of tribal people in Sarawak have started blockading a second big hydroelectric dam project being built by a government which critics accuse of nepotism and corruption. Late last month around 200 native Kenyah, Kayan and Penan people chased away workers and set up a blockade on a road leading to the … Continue reading
Environment News Service, October 18: Swedish pension fund authorities have followed the lead of counterparts in Norway and New Zealand in divesting all holdings in the American company Freeport McMoRan, which operates the world’s biggest copper and gold mine in the contested province of Papua, in Indonesia. Following the recommendation of their ethical advisory council, … Continue reading
26 September 2013: A Malaysian MP has fuelled the controversy surrounding Adelaide University’s decision to name a plaza after an allegedly corrupt Malaysian political leader – and university donor – warning the university’s image could be “tarnished”. Sarawak State Assembly member and chairman of the opposition People’s Justice Party Baru Bian said there were “compelling” … Continue reading
Malaysian Insider, 6 August: Sarawak will acquire some 4,000 hectares for the Baram hydroelectric project today after issuing a notice last week, although the proposed dam has not yet been assessed or approved. A legal “direction” published in the Borneo Post last Friday said an area of 4090.8 hectares was “required for public purposes, namely … Continue reading
New Matilda, 24 May 2013: Former Australian Greens leader Bob Brown says “a living culture is facing death” in Malaysian Borneo, where the planned construction of a string of hydroelectric dams would flood the lands of tens of thousands of indigenous people. Brown is in Sarawak, Malaysia’s biggest state, to attend three days of protests … Continue reading
“Why invest in SCORE?”, a poster hanging beside a large map of Borneo reads. The government official sitting in front of it obscures the suggested reasons as he leans forward to work his smart phone. A recent hidden camera video, shot by the London-based NGO Global Witness, documents proposed illegal land deals in the Malaysian … Continue reading
