KL firm defers RI plant

KL firm defers RI plant

KUALA LUMPUR (AP): Malaysia's electric company has deferred a joint venture project to build a coal-fired power plant in Sumatra, Indonesia, because of the region's economic crisis, a news report said yesterday.

"It is difficult to say when (the project can proceed), but we are looking at a period of between 10 and 15 years," the national news agency Bernama quoted Ahmad Tajuddin Ali, executive chairman of Tenaga Nasional Berhad, as saying.

Demand for electricity in Malaysia has also slowed, Tajuddin told reporters in Kulim, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) northwest of Kuala Lumpur.

Many factories, the biggest users of electric power, had cut their working hours due to lower demand for their products locally and overseas.