The government has approved RM30 million to build a road linking the Bakun hydro-electric dam in Sarwak and the nearest township, Belaga.

The sum, allocated under the 8th Malaysian Plan, will be disbursed by the Sarawak government, said Works Minister S Samy Vellu in a written parliamentary reply to Billy Abit Joo (BN-Hulu Rejang).

However, work has yet to start as the state authorities are still planning the appropriate feeder road to link both places.

Samy Vellu also said the government had rejected another proposal for a road to link Kapit and Tatau.

Meanwhile, Internal Security Minister and premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said 83 fishermen had been kidnapped in the Straits of Malacca between 2000 and 2004, with RM 919, 800 being paid in ransom for their releases.

He said this in a written parliamentary reply to Opposition LeaderLim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur), giving the breakdown as 38 fishermen in 2002 (RM129,500), 22 last year (RM600,000) and 23 to date this year (RM190,300). There was no record of kidnaps in 2000 and 2001.

Contacted later, Lim said the ransoms were paid by individuals, not by the government.

Last month, three prawn fishermen were abducted off the coast of western Perak by pirates armed with automatic weapons. They were said to speak an Indonesian dialect.

The straits, a vital waterway for a third of international trade , has been the focus of attempts to control piracy in particular.