INTERESTING: Taib (centre) observes the souvenir given to him while (from left) Celestine and Jabu look on.
SIBU: The state will develop two more hydro electricity dams to generate 1,000 to 2,000 extra megawatts of electricity to meet the demands of new investments worth RM20 billion to RM30 billion in the near future.
This was announced by Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud when officiating at the opening of the Iban Cultural Symposium at Kingwood Hotel here on Thursday night.
He added that the state had already received investments worth more than RM 34 billion for the country.
“But, I need to slow down as I’m waiting for the next hydroelectric dam to be built in Kapit in order to get another one to two thousand megawatts of electricity to satisfy another 20 to 30 billion dollars’ worth of investment in Sarawak.”
He said building the dams would not be easy and the people should understand that the plan was to enable them to enjoy good standard of living.
“We would like to build two towns in Ulu Baram and one in Kapit to make sure that there is a pull into this area of better commercial investments to take full advantage of the development.
“The site of Baram town had been identified and the second town is in Tunoh,” he disclosed.
The chief minister said the state was on the threshold of its second wave of development and urged the people to adjust to immense changes that would come about through the implementation of the plans .
“It is going to bring in changes that are entirely different from the changes that you see in the first wave,” he said.
He said the second phase of development would be scattered all over the urban areas as the industry under Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE) required a lot of manpower.
The society would be restructured when young people below the age of 30 moved in huge number to the urban areas in search for jobs and business opportunities, he said.
Adjustment was necessary in anticipation of social problems, cultural problems and even economic problems that would surface in this demographic change, he explained.
“Perhaps, with the new form of development, Sarawak will be a different kind of state by year 2030.”
He stressed the importance of adjusting to a new environment while preserving cultural values and maintaining interaction with one another.
“These are the things we ought to be aware of because urbanisation is going to be there once we are in full swing in the industry,” he pointed out.
Also present at the function were Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Alfred Jabu Numpang, Second Finance Minister and Minister of Local Government and Community Development Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh, Land Development Minister Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing, Deputy Minister of Rural and Regional Development Datuk Alexander Nanta Linggi and the Iban Cultural Symposium 2013 Committee chairman Tan Sri Dato Sri Celestine Ujang Jilan.