Tuesday, September 28, 2010

DAP cautions Taib about Bakun bailout

Mon, 27 Sep 2010 16:18

By Joseph Tawie

KUCHING: DAP has cautioned the state government against buying over the Bakun hydroelectric dam project without a detailed study.

Responding to Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud’s announcement that the state had offered “RM6 billion plus” to the federal government in what some have alleged is a bailout, Sarawak DAP Secretary Chong Chieng Jen said the offer was too high.

According to him, the amount is almost twice the state’s total annual revenues from natural resources such as oil and timber.

He demanded transparency from the state government, asking it to reveal how it would finance the project and at what price it planned to sell electricity generated from the dam.

“The state government is only the trustee of the people’s money; so it must comply with the basic principles of accountability and responsibility,” said Chong, who is the MP for Bandar Kuching.

News reports today quoted Taib as saying the state would offer Putrajaya up to RM7 billion for Bakun if it met some conditions.

It is said that the Federal Government is asking for RM8 billion, claiming it has spent RM7.3 billion on the project, the biggest of its kind in Southeast Asia.

Source: Free Malaysia Today
URL: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/fmt-english/politics/sabah-and-sarawak/10740-dap-cautions-taib-about-bakun-bailout

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