Sarawak state bans gambling

Sarawak state bans gambling

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysia's eastern Sarawak state has banned all forms of gambling in a district to protect landowners expected to become "instant millionaires" thanks to the Bakun dam project, news reports said yesterday.

Some 9,500 villagers from 1,600 villages affected in a dam project would receive compensation of 300 million ringgit (US$115.4 million) from developer Bakun Hydro-Electric Corp. by the end of the year.

Sarawak state tourism minister and Bakun resettlement committee chairman James Masing said the ban on gambling, especially cock-fighting, was aimed at preventing people in the Belaga district from throwing away their money.

The government had asked local trust funds to be stationed in Belaga when the compensation is paid out to help the people invest them properly, Masing said.

"We want to make sure that they make use of their compensation money wisely," he was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times newspaper.

The initial payment of 30 percent, or 90 million ringgit, will be made this month, and the remainder in stages until December. Masing cited an example in the 1970s when a large number of villagers in another local district became instant millionaires under a resettlement scheme to make way for a dam construction.

The lack of proper guidance from the government and the people's failure to invest their new-found wealth wisely, led them to eventually lose their money and return to poverty, he added.

The $5.44-billion project, which has triggered protests from environmental and other groups, will flood an area the size of Singapore when it is completed.

The dam is due to begin commercial operation in 2003 with production capacity eventually expected to reach 2,400 megawatts. Ekran Bhd., which holds 32 percent equity in Bakun Hydro- Electric, had recently revealed that the project was facing a funding problem involving a contract signed with Swedish engineer Asea Brown Boveri AG (ABB).

Ekran is currently seeking to amend the clause in the contract to ensure that any cost overruns are directly borne by the consortium made up of ABB and Companhia Brasileira de Projectos e Obras of Brazil.

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad had said the government may intervene in the dam project if Ekran failed to resolve its row with the ABB consortium.