<
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/heart-of-borneo-dams-raze-indigenous-forests-for-indonesia-green-energy-drive/>
"MALINAU, Indonesia — Indonesia is pressing ahead with construction of a new
network of dams in Borneo to power a major “green” industrial estate that will
relocate Indigenous communities and cut into one of Asia’s largest stretches of
intact rainforest.
“Finding fish and animals has already become difficult,” Yusmarang, a member of
North Kalimantan’s Punan Indigenous community, told
Mongabay Indonesia.
Last year,
Mongabay reported from Malinau district, near Indonesia’s border
with Malaysia, on efforts by PT Malinau Hijau Lestari to deforest thousands of
hectares to grow biomass for coal-fired power plants.
Indonesia’s central government is also forging ahead with plans to construct
five dams along three rivers in North Kalimantan province as part of Southeast
Asia’s largest hydroelectric project. The cost of the cascade is estimated at
more than $20 billion.
Then-president Joko Widodo attended a ceremony in 2023 to mark the beginning of
the Mentarang Induk Dam. Another dam planned in Bulungan district on the Kayan
River will flood two villages, Long Leju and Long Peleban.
On completion of the final stage, which is scheduled for 2035, the five
combined units could yield a generation capacity of 9,000 megawatts."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
