Here are some information regarding this particular proposed dam. Disclaimer: I am not one of those politicians and I don't politicize matters. This is purely engineering and some NGO leaders should understand this before making statements when comparing apple to apple (not orange).

1. The catchment area for this particular dam is under Papar Catchment with the possible size of 795km². Much smaller area size compare to Panggi Dam which is receiving water under Padas Catchment with the area size of 8,726km². Almost 11 times smaller.

2. Paggi Dam utilizes serious surface runoff and mitigates flooding issues since the area around the dam and from Padas Catchment is considered flood prone. By area size, Kaiduan Dam has far smaller area size prone to flood (compare to Panggi Dam) and basically consisting of riparian area.

3. Vertical drop for kinetic energy and generated power would be around 600-800m for Kaiduan Dam while Panggi Dam is estimated around 500-600m. Kaiduan may generate higher kinetic energy and wattage due to high elevation change and shorter route.

4. From seismology perspective, Paggi Dam sits around 5-10km away parallel to the Tenom normal active Fault while a minor inactive fault crosses Kaiduan Dam around 10-15km. Kaiduan is situated around 10-13km away from an earthquake epicenter with magnitude of 3.2 (tremor reported on 7th June 2015 at 1052 Hours, continuous wave or aftershock from the Great Eartquake of Sabah). Paggi Dam is situated around 40km away from an earthquake epicenter at Keningau which tremble at 3.0 Richter Scale in 3rd December 2012. The Peak Ground Acceleration for both dam are 20gal for Panggi Dam and 30gal for Kaiduan Dam. Both are classed as low seismic zone nevertheless other amplification factors has yet to be considered. From soil taxonomy, Panggi Dam is sitting on Crocker soil type while Kaiduan may sits on either Kepayan or Dalit soil Type. Both are likely to be designed based on low ductility class but between both, the foundation of Kaiduan is poorer and that brings slight change when exposed to horizontal elastic respond spectra and possible changes due to depth of geological deposit.

5. Sedimentology plays important role for serviceability of the dam. Kaiduan Dam is less likely to have high sediment washload from current observation. Nevertheless, when Kaiduan Dam going at full operation the result may differ. The Crocker soil type is classified as Group C (Dalit soil) or D (Kepayan soil) under Hydrologic Soil Group while Panggi Dam is under Group D (Crocker soil). At the end of the day, both fare almost similar outcome in level of turbidity due to riverbank erosion. Both will also have issues with fine sediment suspended load and disposition.

These are some of the available data which i can interpret as i drink a cup of coffee. I will not give more unless i get paid for making professional assessment for other engineering components for consideration.

Well, hope you enjoy a write-up over a glass of nice coffee.