There is no clean COAL POWER FOR SABAH

It is clear from the Palin-Bidden debate that clean-coal is still far
away in the future with China building lots of dirty coal power plants.

The coal power plant in Sabah will be similarly dirty, destroying the
enviroment in Sabah even more. It is already bad, but it will make it
even worse.

The worst part is that, we already have excess power capacity in Bakun,
that had already destroyed thousands of acres of environment, but it is
never to be transmitted to Sabah and the nearby areas.

Instead, another 8 billion RM were to be invested, above the 4 billion
RM used to build it, in order to transmit power to Malaya thousands of
km under the sea. And Malaya already have excess electricity generating
capacity.

What is the rationale of all this?

Economically it will be devastating to Sabah that relies on tourism for
its only economic activity. Industry will never be economical without
any support on the infrastructures, such as roads.

Transport companies are going bankrupt because of the limitations of
35000 kgs loading capacities instead of the 55,000 for Malaya.

Material costs are already high because everything had to be imported
via Malaya, causing more than 20% overheads in cost of materials and
transportations of finished goods.

Sabah will remain the poorest in Malaysia and the whole world.

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/02/debate.transcript/

BIDEN:

...

The way in which we can stop the greenhouse gases from emitting. We
believe -- Barack Obama believes by investing in clean coal and safe
nuclear, we can not only create jobs in wind and solar here in the
United States, we can export it.

China is building one to three new coal-fired plants burning dirty coal
per week. It's polluting not only the atmosphere but the West Coast of
the United States. We should export the technology by investing in clean
coal technology.

...

http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=60177
DAILY EXPRESS NEWS Zakaria: Don't blame Govt for power woes if

Kota Kinabalu: The public, especially those living in the State's east
coast, should not blame the Government if the proposed coal-fired power
plant in Sandakan failed to materialise, thus creating a severe power
shortage in the region.

Gum-Gum Assemblyman Datuk Zakaria Edris said the public as well as
non-governmental organisations (NGOs) who opposed the setting up of the
plant should realise the importance of the facility not only for
Sandakan but the entire east coast.

"Areas in the east coast such as Sandakan, Lahad Datu and Tawau are
desperate for electricity due to the growth in population as well as
economic activities. Should the power shortage persist, economic growth
in these areas will be affected," he said when met during the Chief
Minister's Hari Raya Open House here on Wednesday.

Zakaria said he and 43 other representatives of the Government as well
as NGOs had visited several coal-powered power plants in Kuching, Johor
Baru, Perak and Selangor.

"From the visit we found out that the plant in Johor Baru, which has a
capacity of 2,000 megawatts, did not affect the environment. Even
Singapore, which is so near and conscious about the environment, made no
objections regarding the plant," he said.

"So what is wrong with having a coal-fired power plant in Sandakan which
has a capacity of only 300 megawatts, knowing that Sabah will face
severe power shortage by 2010," he added.

Zakaria also said the so-called petition signed by some 50,000 people
who were against the project did not reflect the views of the people as
a whole.

He said those collecting the signatures were not giving out the correct
information by claiming, among others, that the plant would cause cancer.

"If this is true, we want evidence. In Johor, Selangor, Kuching and
Perak (where the plants already exist), there has been no reports about
any deaths related to the plant," he said, adding that there were
certain parties who were misleading the public.

"I appeal to the people to see the positives for the benefit of all.
Sandakan is poised for rapid growth and is aiming to be an education hub
and this in turn needs power."

He also said that should the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for
the plant pass, it would be set up somewhere in Gum-Gum or Sekong.
--
Sabah is heaven. Beautiful shark-free beaches and mountains next to
civilisation with no natural and man-made disasters except Malaysia.
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