A former quality controller (QC) for the Bakun dam project has alleged cost and time saving measures in the construction that could undermine the structural integrity of the dam once it is filled.

According to whistleblower website Sarawak Report , the former QC personnel claims that the concrete mix was compromised with “low grade cement” to cut costs, and that water was constantly being added to the final mix as it was pumped into the dam, to speed up the process.

The website says it has received documents, photographs as well as videos of the allegations.

One video shows workers hosing water into the cement mixers ( right ), that the informant says is “forbidden practice was endemic on the project ”.

“It is well-known that the Chinese contractors (Sinohydro) were under extreme pressure from the Malaysian government during the period up to 2009 to get the dam finished as quickly and cheaply as possible, after a series of delays and cost over-runs,” said the website.

It said the informant claimed, “We compromised all the time to speed up the project.”

'Bosses ignored complaints'

The informant alleges that there was a shortage of QC personnel on the project and that his reports on the infringements to the bosses were blatantly ignored.

“I used to raise this issue and nobody took any notice of it,” the informant told Sarawak Report .

“They would just say ‘Okay, let it go, warn them not to do it next time’, that is all.

“If I found them adding water to the concrete I would reject it as sub-standard, but I could not be everywhere all the time and I knew it was happening when I was not there,” he said.

He added that he was certain rejected batches were not discarded.

According to the report, the infringements pose a serious risk to the strength of the dam against the water's current.

“It has already been raised as a matter of concern that Bakun has been constructed in a region comprising several fault lines that could be strained by the added loads of the water.

"Minor tremors have been recently recorded, but these issues have been likewise ignored,” said Sarawak Report .