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. This cascade of dams through the old-growth forests of northern Borneo will power a vast new industrial estate that authorities in Jakarta consider of strategic importance for Indonesia. The government says it hopes the Kalimantan Industrial Park Indonesia (KIPI) estate will be the largest “green industrial area” in the world. “The industrial park, which covers an area of 13,000 hectares…This article was originally published on Mongabay
‘Heart of Borneo’ dams raze Indigenous forests for Indonesia green energy drive
