TNB Power Generation Sdn Bhd managing director Nazri Pazil said the Orang Asli, involving 245 heads of households, will be relocated in stages until the dam is completed.

“TNB will relocate the Orang Asli before we submerge their settlement areas, covering 720 acres in Pos Pulat and Kampung Kuala Wias, and 1,337 acres in Pos Tohoi,” he told reporters after visiting the dam project site here.

Nazri said the hydroelectric dam is 40.5% complete and work is going according to schedule.

Construction started in March 2022 and is expected to be completed by November 2027, he said, adding that upon completion, the project would provide 2,000 employment opportunities.

The project will particularly boost tourism and socio-economic sectors in Gua Musang, he said.

The RM5 billion project, located in the northeast part of Kelantan, will bring multiplied benefits to the state, including reducing the effects of floods and droughts.

This will be achieved through the dam’s 53.84 sq km main reservoir lake and water flow control pool.

Upon completion, the hydroelectric dam will hold rainwater during the monsoon season and help mitigate heavy runoff that causes floods in the lowlands.

The hydroelectric dam project will also deliver 300 megawatts to the national grid when completed, boosting TNB’s renewable energy generation capacity.

Meanwhile, Nazri said compensation worth RM10 million for crop and plantation damage was being provided to the 245 Orang Asli heads of households.

He said the compensation was for their rubber plantations and orchards that had to be cleared to make way for the dam’s construction.

“(The Orang Asli) had rubber plantations or orchards in Pos Tohoi and Pos Pulat, and all those trees had to be felled, so we are providing compensation in the form of rubber saplings to be planted at their new settlements.

“In addition, TNB is also providing other forms of compensation, such as building houses, school, surau, toilets and various other infrastructure facilities,” he told reporters at Pos Tohoi.