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20 Jan 2012
RM500mil for Samalaju port
KUCHING: The Federal Government has approved RM500mil to fund the
development of the new Samalaju deepsea port in Bintulu Division.
Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud said that the money would be used for dredging works on the port and preliminary phase development.
Taib said this before witnessing the signing of a power purchase agreement (PPA) between Asia Minerals Ltd (AML) and Sarawak Energy Bhd here yesterday.
AML,
the first investor in Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (Score) to
sign the PPA, is buying 270 MW for 20 years to power its proposed
RM709mil manganese ferro-alloy smelting plant in Samalaju Industrial
Park in Bintulu.
The plant, with an annual capacity of 300,000 tonnes, will begin commercial production in June or July next year.
The Sarawak government has tasked Bintulu Port Holdings Bhd (BPHB) to implement the Samalaju port project, a crucial component of the Score development that has been given top priority.
The
new port on 450ha and about 60km by road from Bintulu town will handle
the import of raw materials and the export of finished products for
energy-intensive industries in Samalaju.
The pioneer batch of Score investors Press Metal Bhd, OM Materials, AML and Tokuyama Corp are in various stages of building their manufacturing facilities in Samalaju. Their planned combined investment exceeds RM9bil.
According to BPHB chief executive officer Datuk Mior Ahmad Baiti Mior Lub Ahmad, dredging works on the new port were expected to start mid this year.
“The
tender for the project's site earthworks package has closed. We hope to
start earthworks next month and it will take about four months to
complete,” he told StarBizWeek.
The earthworks package is estimated to cost RM7mil.
Mior Ahmad said tenders would be called next month for the construction of interim berth facilities for barges.
BPHB has obtained approval for the port's environmental impact assessment.
He said KTA (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd, a leading multi-disciplinary consulting firm, was carrying out a detailed design of the new port.
Mior Ahmad said he would meet Taib next week for further discussions on the new port project, including the finance package.
PricewaterhouseCoopers has come up with the project's estimated development cost.
The Sarawak government, through the state financial secretary, holds a 31.7% equity interest in BPHB.
The Star - Friday/January 20, 2012
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