Construction of a $3.9 billion dam in Malaysia is expected to resume soon despite harsh criticism from environmentalists and human rights groups. The Asian financial crisis halted work on the Bakun Dam in the late 1990s, but the Malaysian government said this week that it wants to move forward with the project. The dam would flood more than 187 square miles of rainforest and displace nearly 10,000 indigenous people. Sam Hiu, spokesperson for groups opposing the dam, said, “While the rest of the world moves forward with alternatives to large dams, it is utter folly and backward of Malaysia to go ahead with Bakun.”
