The bidders for the contract to build the main dam in the Bakun hydroelectric project will be known in August, according to Energy, Communications and Multimedia Minister Leo Moggie today.

"Sarawak Electricity Supply Corporation (Sesco), the company that manages the Bakun hydroelectric project, had issued a statement that the applications for the pre-qualification of contractors or consortiums need to be submitted sometime in August," Moggie said.

Sesco took over the management of the revived Bakun dam project from the original builder, Ekran Bhd, which abandoned it when the economic downturn hit Malaysia in 1997.

The minister was speaking at a press conference after delivering his welcome speech in a dialogue session between the Energy, Communications and Multimedia Ministry and the energy users at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur this morning.

On Feb 28, Moggie announced that the Bakun dam project would be revived with an estimated cost of between RM5 billion and RM6 billion, half that of the original cost of RM13 billion.

Local companies favoured

An article in the July edition of Utusan Konsumer reported that Moggie has indicated that local companies will be favoured in the dam's construction.

The same article also reported that Cahya Mata Sarawak Berhad (CMSB), a company closely linked to the family of Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud, made known its interest to participate in the bidding process for the main dam via a consortium.

Moggie also told reporters that the contract for the tunnel diversion has been completed while the construction of the coffer dam which costs RM80 million is due to be completed in June 2002.

(A coffer dam is a structure that will create a dry area at the project site so that the main dam can be created.)

The contract to build the coffer dam is believed to have been won by Global Uphill Sdn Bhd, a private company owned by Sarawakian tycoon Ting Pek Khiing, who owns Ekran.