NGO appeals ruling on China-funded dam in endangered orangutan habitat

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s biggest non- government environmental group yesterday launched a fresh legal bid to stop the construction of a controversial China-funded dam that some experts warn will destroy the habitat of a unique species of orangutans.

The US$ 1.5 billion hydro dam is being built by a ChineseIndonesian consortium in the heart of the Batang Toru rainforest in Sumatra, which is home to the Tapanuli orangutans, a species of the endangered great apes that was only discovered in 2017.

The Indonesian Forum for the Environment ( Walhi) has fought for months in court to stop construction of the dam led by Chinese state- owned company Sinohydro.

The project is due to be finished by 2022 after being approved by the local government.

On March 4, the state administrative court in Medan dismissed a lawsuit claiming that the approval process had ignored the environmental significance of the site and did not get input from residents.

Walhi lawyer Padian Adi Siregar said yesterday that they had taken the first steps to appeal to the high court in Medan and would bring evidence to show that the environmental assessment for the project was fraudulent.

“We hope the Medan State ( high) court will re- check the evidence and information from our witnesses ... including the fact one expert says his name and signature were falsified in the environmental impact analysis,” he told Reuters.

The expert, forestry scientist, Onrizal, told Reuters that his name and diploma were used without his permission in a final version of the environmental assessment, which also omitted any mention of endangered species, including of the orangutans. — Reuters