Gov't to award contracts to build Bakun dam soon
Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said Tuesday works contracts for the RM9 billion Bakun hydroelectric dam project would have to be awarded soon amid a sharp rise in electricity consumption.
"I hope it will be soon because consumption of electricity has shot up," Mahathir, who is also finance minister, told reporters.
The controversial dam project in Sarawak, which involves flooding an area the size of Singapore, was revived last year after being shelved during the 1997 financial crisis.
The government, however, abandoned plans for the world's longest undersea cable network to transfer power to peninsular Malaysia.
The Bakun dam will be 205 metres high to create an eventual generating capacity of 2,400 megawatts, but environmentalists say output far exceeds future power needs in Sarawak.
The size of the dam has also attracted fierce criticism for its effect on the environment and on around 10,000 locals who have already been moved out of their homes.
Reports said results for two tenders involving the building of the main dam and the supply and installation of electro-mechanical equipment would be announced this month.
Four Malaysian-led groups and their foreign partners were said to have bid for the main dam work, with six firms shortlisted for the electro-mechanical package. AFP
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