Guest guest Posted May 19, 2002 Report Share Posted May 19, 2002 The Star - Friday, May 17, 2002 Sarawak aware West are funding the NGOs KUCHING: The Sarawak Government has " certain information'' on anti-Bakun non-governmental organisations (NGOs) receiving funds from sources in the West. Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr George Chan Hong Nam, who said this yesterday, however, did not give details. He was commenting on a report from Melbourne-based Institute of Public Affairs that NGOs protesting against the construction of the Bakun hydro-electric dam project are receiving funds from US sources. The institute's executive director Dr Mike Nahan said he suspected that the NGOs were getting far more money from European foundations. Dr Chan said the state government was " very aware " of environmental issues related to development. " We are more concerned about our environment than anybody,'' he added after opening a SMI intellectual property awareness campaign here. Asked to comment on news reports of the Bakun villagers' fears of flooding caused by the rising water level at the dam site, Dr Chan said the claims were based on hearsay and rumours. " As far as l know, everything is okay in Bakun.'' State Social Development and Urbanisation Minister Datuk Dr James Masing said the claims by Borneo Resources Institute was " totally baseless and unfounded.'' On a suggestion that there was a need for a flood contingency plan for the Bakun project, Dr Masing said based on the experts' views in the project's environmental impact assessment report, there was no need for such a plan. Dr Masing was the chairman of the now disbanded Bakun resettlement committee. Some 10,000 villagers affected by the project have been resettled. Earlier at the opening ceremony, Dr Chan said Malaysian firms should exploit and export their intellectual property to earn royalties for the country. " Malaysia pays a substantial amount of royalty for imported technologies every year and this causes a drain on our foreign exchange earnings. " Intellectual property is also an instrument for wealth creation,'' Dr Chan added. He said the proposed Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia would help to monitor the country's intellectual property system at national and international levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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