ANTIDOTE Native villagers in Bintulu, central Sarawak, have spoken out strongly against the new Press Metal aluminium smelter in Samalaju Industrial Park.

The smelter is a flagship project in the aggressive industrialisation plan of chief minister Abdul Taib Mahmud’s Sarawak Corridor of Sustainable Energy (Score).

Score is Taib’s justification for the hydroelectric mega-projects at Bakun, Murum, Baram, and nine other dam sites. These are dismissed as corruption-plagued “white elephants” and land grabs by human rights and environmental activists.