Work on Bakun dam a year behind schedule

Tony Thien

Jun 8, 05 11:19am

The RM4.5 billion 2400MW Bakun hydro dam in central Sarawak, one of the world's highest rockfill dams, is more than a year behind schedule and there are serious doubts it will be completed by September 2007.

A highly-placed source in the Ministry of Finance-owned company, Sarawak Hydro Sdn Bhd, disagreed with the ground version that work on the site along the Balui River, 37km above Belaga town, is only nine months behind schedule.

“It is more than a year behind,” he told malaysiakini today.

The Bakun project when completed will be able to operate at an average of 1770MW of electricity, originally aimed at the domestic market as well as Sabah.

The total project cost is estimated at RM4.5 billion, including the transmission line to Sabah, the plants and generating equipment (about RM1 billion),civil and engineering works as well as local transmission line and sub-stations.

The civil and engineering works, the first part of the project, have been awarded to a consortium of six Malaysian companies and a mainland Chinese company, Sino Hydro (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, with Sime Engineering Sdn Bhd taking the lead role and a 30 per cent equity stake.

Sime and the other Malaysian companies, including a Sarawak company Edward & Sons Sdn Bhd, hold a total of 70 per cent stake and China Hydro the rest.

The lump sum contract fee is RM1.788 billion with delivery date on September 2007.

For reasons which have not been officially revealed, China Hydro took over the project management on the site from Sime Engineering recently, and officials of Sarawak Hydro, the developer, have told malaysiakini that “the project appears to be moving,” although there are doubts it could be completed within the remaining contract period.

Unforeseen factors

The source said the consortium has written to Sarawak Hydro for an extension of 15 months beyond September 2007 with price variation the main contractors have claimed as unforeseen factors on the site.

“The Ministry of Finance has yet to make a decision on it,” he added.

Tied to Bakun in a proposal put up by various parties, both local and foreign, to set up an aluminium smelter plant in Bintulu along with a deep-sea port to handle bulk carriers at Similajau.

Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud recently travelled to China together with businessmen from Sarawak, including son and CMS Berhad group chairperson Sulaiman Abdul Rahman Taib, and witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between CMS and two Chinese companies to undertake feasibility studies on the setting up of a smelter plant in Bintulu using power either from Bakun or even a second hydro dam nearby at Murun River nearby with half the capacity of Bakun.

The Chinese companies have expertise in aluminium smelter operations, hydro dam building and port construction.

Government officials, however, said that it is very unlikely that more than one smelter plant will be approved for Bintulu on environmental grounds.