A Malaysian minister said today he has invited Japanese trading house Sumitomo Corp to undertake a billion-dollar undersea cable project.

The 700-kilometer undersea cable link is meant to transmit power generated by the Bakun hydro-electric dam in Sarawak on Borneo island to Johor on the mainland.

Energy, Water and Communications Minister Lim Keng Yaik said he visited Sumitomo's submarine cable manufacturing facility in Osaka during a recent visit to Japan, state news agency Bernama reported.

"I told them to work together with other cable manufacturers to ensure that we can lay this cable as soon as possible. Bakun should be ready by 2010, so there are three years left," Lim was quoted saying.

"I brought along Sime Darby, the owner of Bakun dam, and Tenaga Nasional as well and they were able to talk about this," he said.

National utility firm Tenaga and conglomerate Sime Darby have teamed up to undertake preliminary work on the undersea cable but work has not started.

RM5.2 billion project

It would take at least one year just to lay 250 kilometres of cable, Lim said, adding that the cable project would likely cost RM5.2 billion (US$1.5 billion).

Lim said he expects Sumitomo take up the offer but pricing and other issues needed to be sorted out.

The Bakun dam project has been dogged with delays and setbacks since its approval in 1993. It had been slated to be completed by August 2007 but the government had originally dropped it following the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

The dam, which involves flooding an area the size of Singapore, has attracted fierce criticism because of its harmful impact on the environment.

Environmentalists have also said the undersea cable was unsafe because of earthquakes in the region.