MURUM (Sarawak), Oct 26 — Sarawak Hidro Sdn Bhd (SHSB) should hire locals on the management team of the RM7.5 billion Bakun dam in the Belaga district, Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) said yesterday.
PRS Youth chief Liwan Lagang said the company is treating the state like a colony of the peninsula, with not a single member of Sarawak Hidro’s management team hailing from Sarawak.
"I cannot understand why it does not want to take qualified locals into their management team," the assistant minister of culture and heritage told reporters after attending Pesta Penan Murum here.
"The feeling on the ground is that we are being treated as a colony of Peninsular Malaysia," he added.
Liwan said it is hard to believe that there are no qualified locals from Belaga to sit on the company’s management, adding that he has briefed the state Cabinet on the issue and will raise it again at the next meeting.
The 2,400MW Bakun hydroelectric dam, the biggest dam in Southeast Asia, was completed in 2010 and started operation in 2011.
All the power generated from Bakun dam is sold on a long term agreement to state-owned Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB), which in turn sells it to consumers.
