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View all search resultsBatang Toru Dam construction goes on amid concerns for rarest apes, villagers
Scientists regretted the Indonesian government not listening to them and giving a green light for the project.
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An aerial view of land cleared as a staging area for the construction of a hydroelectric dam in the Batang Toru ecosystem, the only known habitat of the Tapanuli orangutans, on Sumatra Island, on Aug. 20, 2018. (SUMATRAN ORANGUTAN CONSERVATION PROGRAMME/AFP/Nanang Sujana)
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onstruction of the Batang Toru hydropower plant in Tapanuli Selatan regency has continued despite concerns for the “last 800” of the world’s rarest big ape and lawsuits lodged by an environmental group.
PT North Sumatera Hydro Energy (NSHE), the operator of the hydropower plant (PLTA), touted to be “environmentally friendly”, aims to open the 510-megawatt plant in 2022.
NSHE’s senior executive for external relations, Firman Taufick, said the power plant, which cost Rp 22 trillion, was a “green investment” to help the country reach the 35,000-megawatt target.
“The investment for the Batang Toru PLTA is not small and involves many stakeholders. We are committed to continuing the construction of the power plant and operating it in 2022,” he said in Medan on Wednesday.
Read also: Batang Toru dam will affect orangutans and villagers: Walhi
Environmental senior adviser of NSHE, Agus Djoko Ismanto Adji, said the construction phase had reached 9 percent completion. He acknowledged the presence of “dynamics in society” but was still optimistic that it could continue construction.
Batang Toru PLTA uses run-for-river technology that would flood only a small area in the Batang Toru River and would create a dam that closed the river flow for 18 hours and allowed it to open for six hours to move the power turbines.
