Bakun project take years to build

Bakun project take years to build

KUALA LUMPUR (Dow Jones): Malaysia's scaled-down, environmentally controversial Bakun hydroelectric dam project is expected to take at least six years to complete, the government- owned news agency, Bernama, reported.

Bernama reported Malaysia's Deputy Finance Minister Wong See Wah as saying Monday the first phase of the project, which is currently being studied, involving the construction of a power station with the capacity to generate 500 megawatts is expected to be ready in three years.

The government assumed control of the project in December 1997 from its previous owner Bakun Hydroelectric Corp. in the midst of the country's economic crisis.

He said Tenaga Nasional Bhd., the national power utility concern, would head a consortium to redevelop the project while the east Malaysian Sarawak state government and private companies in the state would be invited to join the consortium.

Wong said power from Bakun would be channeled to Sarawak, east Malaysian Sabah state, Brunei and Kalimantan, Indonesia.