Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi today launched a major development project worth billions of dollars to fuel growth in resource-rich Sarawak.

He said the government would spend an initial RM5 billion to kickstart the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (Score), the last of five programs that form a long term economic blueprint.

The announcement came ahead of elections expected in March and would focus on developing the state's energy sources, hydropower, coal, natural gas and petroleum.

"The development, distribution and consumption of energy is a core element leading to the success of the Sarawak Corridor," Abdullah said at the launch.

sarawak corridor of renewable energy score project 110208 data map He said the project aims to bring economic growth and eradicate poverty in the predominantly rural state of Sarawak by 2030. It will provide about 800,000 jobs over 23 years with private investment targeted at RM300 billion.

"It's not going to be less than 300 billion (ringgit). It's a huge amount but it involves large developments in various fields ... in Sarawak, which is a very large (state)," he said.

The area earmarked for development is a 320-kilometre stretch along the coast facing the South China Sea from Tanjung Manis to Similajau and covers an area of 70,708 square kilometres - 57 percent of the entire state.

The government is gearing up for elections expected in March and has launched another four big-budget masterplans worth billions of dollars to attract foreign investment and develop rural states over the next two decades.

Protect the environment

Meanwhile, Malaysiakini’s Tony Thien reports that, Abdullah advised the implementing agency of Score to be mindful of the need to protect the environment, especially in approving energy-based industries.

Abdullah said a green development framework would have to be formulated to realise this objective.

His remarks appear to underscore concerns that the proposed energy and energy-based industries within Score’s area equivalent to three-quarter the size of the state would not be sustainable if not properly developed.

He spoke about the need to avoid turning the state's many waterways into sewerage systems. He said the riverine systems should be protected, not turned toxic that would kill aquatic life.

“The rivers and the fish have been given to us free and we must therefore protect them,” he added.

The remarks indicated the prime minister was aware of the many rivers in Sarawak which have been badly polluted because of timber and oil palm activities and was concerned the situation could further worsen if nothing was done to control such activities.

There were no immediate comments from state officials.

The Sarawak Regional Development Corridor Authority is the implementing agency for Score projects.

Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud, federal and state ministers and officials were also present at the gathering at the Promenade attended by an estimated 15,000 people.

Aluminium smelter project

Officials say the main engine of growth for the project is the use of hydroelectricity supplied by the controversial Bakun Dam to power various large-scale heavy industries.

The 2.5 billion dollar dam project has been condemned as an environmental disaster after an area of rainforest the size of Singapore was inundated, forcing up to 10,000 tribal residents to relocate.

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia environmental scientist Abdul Latiff Mohamed said activists feared the environmental costs of economic growth in Sarawak would far outweigh the benefits to the state.

"I am afraid and very sceptical of the situation in Sarawak as the level of caution about the environment is still not at acceptable levels," he told AFP .

"We need the development but the business circle is just not environmentally friendly and such scale of development will have a devastating impact there, where law enforcement is so weak," he said.

Abdullah also witnessed the signing of a RM5.25 billion power-supply deal between Rio Tinto Alcan and Malaysian utility Sarawak Energy Berhad for a planned aluminium smelter on Borneo island.

Rio Tinto and local partner Cahaya Mata Sarawak (CMS) have proposed building a 2.0 billion dollar smelter, which would be among the world's largest.

Malaysian conglomerate Sime Darby Berhad and Sarawak Energy Berhad also inked a deal worth RM22 billion to manage the 2400-megawatt Bakun dam and construct its transmission cables.

The two companies will also undertake a project to lay undersea power cables to transmit electricity from the dam to peninsular Malaysia.