The Chinese partner in the Malaysia-China consortium involved in the Bakun project in Sarawak has finally taken over the management team from Sime Engineering Sdn Bhd from January this year.

This followed a long delay caused by project management problems in the multi-billion-ringgit hydro-electric project.

The seven-member consortium's 30 per cent equity Chinese partner Sino Hydro Corporation (M) Sdn Bhd was to have taken over the project management in December, but this was delayed following two incidents on the site.

Sources close to project developer Ministry of Finance-owned company Sarawak Hidro Sdn Bhd told malaysiakini today that the Chinese team on the site headed by an experienced dam builder Yi Qiang finally took over the project management effective from this month.

The Sime Engineering-led consortium started civil and engineering works to cover a 70-month period sometime in 2002 and had been plagued with problems resulting in slow progress with the project said to be at least a year behind schedule.

"The project management change is an internal arrangements and Sarawak Hidro has been officially notified," the sources added.

Two years' completion date

At present the project, according to officials on the site, is about 20 per cent completed, with a little more than two years to meet scheduled completion date for a hydro dam designed to produce 2,400 megawatts of electricity at a total cost estimated at between RM4 billion and RM5 billion.

Bakun has been a controversial project largely because it is, firstly, the biggest hydro dam outside of China, involving a huge sum of money for which the government is still trying to this day to find big users for the large volume of excess power.

Secondly, it involved the displacement of nearly 10,000 people - all Orang Ulu - in central Sarawak, and a huge sum of money estimated at RM500 million in compensation and resettlement as well as loss of native customary land.

Officials told malaysiakini that even with the resources the consortium will not be able to complete the project on time before the end of 2007 "as they have to go through all the physical stages."

No downsizing

But this delay in completion may be what the government wants, at least time to allow power consumption demand in both Sarawak and Sabah to increase further and to find ultimate power buyers for the remaining large volume.

The authorities are said to be contemplating not downsizing the power plant design which is rather late to do so but let only four of the eight turbines run to produce half of the planned capacity in the event immediate major users cannot be found.

With Sino Hydro heading the project management, the project is expected to gather momentum, although official said there are constraints which have nothing to do with resources.

Inexperience has largely been blamed for the previous project manager's inability to get things moving on the ground, and the Chinese partners were said to be gravely concerned at their reputation being tarnished with long delays.

China Hydro engineers led by Yi have started work to co-ordinate the various works to try and get things moving faster. Sarawak Hidro officials are said to be happy with the change as it has removed some of the clouds hanging over the project.

TONY THIEN is malaysiakini's Sarawak-based stringer.