50 minutes
KUALA LIPIS: The Telom Hydroelectric Dam Project near here was not cancelled because of the upcoming Cameron Highlands by-election, said Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Minister Yeo Bee Yin.
On the contrary Yeo said the decision to scrap the project was made since Oct 3, long before knowing that a by-election would be held there.
“Last week the residents here appealed to us (to cancel the project), only then did we realise that they were concerned over the Telom Dam project,“ she said.
Yeo was met by reporters during Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail visit programme at Pos Pantos/Lanai here today.
Elaborating Yeo said after hearing the appeal she checked with the Electricity Tariff and Supply Planning and Implementation Committee and found that the project was cancelled on Oct 3.
“I did not know that this (Telom Dam) has become a by-election issue and the project cancellation was not announced as it was only made known at the administrative level,“ she said.
According to Yeo, the cancellation of the project was made after considering the high costs and its impact on the environment.
On Jan 8 the Action Committee on Orang Asli Customary Land and Territories requested the government to review the construction of the Telom Hydroelectric Dam project in Pos Lanai in Kuala Lipis, Pahang.
Its chairman, Jeffry Hassan, 32, said the government should look into the effects of the project on about 2,000 Orang Asli people which they also feared would destroy about 7,600 hectares of their ancestral land. — Bernama
