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Energy demand hastens construction of dams – BorneoPost Online <b>...</b> Berita Sarawak - News 2 Sarawak

Energy demand hastens construction of dams – BorneoPost Online <b>...</b>

Posted: 03 Feb 2014 11:03 AM PST

SIBU: Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud yesterday said the proposed Baram and Baleh hydroelectric dams would be built simultaneously rather than one after another.

He said this was necessary to meet the energy demand by companies from Japan, Korea and other countries in the Far East keen to invest in Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE), which covered areas from Samalaju in Bintulu to Tanjong Manis in Sarikei.

"The state government has got to revise its programme and build Baram and Baleh dams simultaneously.

"We already have the Bakun and Murum dams. But with the two new dams, we will be able to cope with higher demand for energy, especially from new investors in SCORE," he said at the soft opening of University College Technology Sarawak (UCTS) at its campus in Old Airport Road here yesterday.

Taib disclosed that SCORE had attracted RM28 billion worth of investments from five giant companies so far, proving the trend that he had envisaged before SCORE started few years ago.

"Now we are processing a lot of applications (for SCORE) in various stages. In fact, we have to slow down a bit because the supply of electricity cannot cope with the amount of energy needed."

Taib, who is also the Finance Minister, added that the state could only increase power supply from what it already had from Bakun through the Murum dam next year. Bakun dam has a capacity of 2,400 megawatt of electricity while Murum has 944MW capacity.

The two new dams (Baram and Baleh) will produce between 1,000 and 2,000 MW extra electricity to cater for industries in SCORE.

"We are hoping in the next 20 years, SCORE will be able to attract US$200 billion worth of investments and this is not a figure that reflects our wishful thinking but this has been calculated based on our estimation of interest we have seen coming to SCORE area," he said.

He added that the construction of hotels and housing projects were on-going in Samalaju to cater for accommodation needs of workers in the SCORE area.

"In three years to come, we will be able to provide housing for a population of 15,000 there to facilitate the growth of SCORE," he said.

On UCTS, he said he was confident it would be able to produce the manpower for SCORE.

"I know the response towards the university so far was quite good.

"I believe by 2017, the university will be able to achieve its target of having about 5,000 students," he said.

At the same function, Titanium Project Management Sdn Bhd managing director Chris Chung presented RM1 million in scholarships to UCTS vice chancellor Professor Datuk Dr Abdul Hakim Juri.

Dr Abdul Hakim also received seven memoranda of understanding (MOUs) between the university and its partners at the function.

Among those present were Taib's wife Puan Sri Ragad Kurdi Taib, Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr Alfred Jabu, Second Finance Minister Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh, Minister of Special Functions Tan Sri Adenan Satem, Housing Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg, Deputy Minister of Rural and Regional Development Datuk Alexander Nanta Linggi and Hock Peng Organisation managing director Datuk Toh Chiew Hock.

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UCTS a university by definition — Wong - The Borneo Post Online

Posted: 03 Feb 2014 12:13 PM PST

by Jane Moh, reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on February 4, 2014, Tuesday

SIBU: University College of Technology Sarawak (UCTS) chairman Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh reiterated yesterday that UCTS is a university and not a college, despite its name of 'University College'.

"UCTS is actually a university, but all universities must start with the name of University College," he told reporters after the soft launching of UCTS by Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud.

He pointed out that UCTS had graduate courses and would soon offer postgraduates and Phd courses.

"There is no difference between UCTS and other universities. Degrees will be awarded and there will be no difference either between the degrees awarded by UCTS and degrees awarded by other universities."

He lamented the confusion cast among the people, particularly by the Opposition, regarding the status of UCTS.

"They said UCTS is no different from Kolej Laila Taib (KLT).

"But just like we have Sunway University College, Taylor University College, Tunku Abdul Rahman University College, this university (UCTS) must start with the name university college as required by the Ministry of Education."

Wong, who is also Minister of Local Government and Community Development and Second Finance Minister, said Sibu presently had a college called KLT and a university called UCTS.

"Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak was impressed when he visited KLT during the Sibu by-election in 2010, and proposed to elevate KLT to university status."

He said KLT's board of management, however, decided to get a separate licence for a university in Sibu as they did not want to lose a college in Sibu.

"The board of management felt that should we upgrade KLT to university status, we have to forgo the college status and that we would thus lose that college.

"After consultation with the Ministry of Education, and the current vice-chancellor of UCTS Professor Dato Dr Hakim Juri, we decided to get a separate licence for a university,"

Phase One of UCTS construction is near completion.

"We are just left with another three blocks, which will be for civil engineering, food technology, additional laboratory, and additional classrooms."

He said when Phase One is completed UCTS would be able to accommodate about 2,500 students.

Wong said the management would decide on the construction of Phase Two once the three blocks under Phase One were completed.

According to him, UCTS was not ready to receive international students as they had high expectations on accommodation facilities.

UCTS, he pointed out, was established to cater to the need of the second wave of development in Sarawak.

He said it was the chief minister's vision for human capital development.

"He (Taib) felt that if we were to maintain the traditional economics activities, we are going to experience deceleration of economy."

Meanwhile, Dr Hakim said with new degree programmes to be offered in UCTS this year, UCTS was targeting to have about 800 students this year.

The courses are Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering, Bachelor of Electrical Engineering (Power), Bachelor of Science in Architecture, Bachelor of Food Technology, Bachelor of Accounting, Bachelor of Software Engineering, and Bachelor of Network Computing

He also planned to get more students from the peninsula.

"We do a lot of promotions in Sarawak but not so much for the West Malaysia side, but we get quite a lot of applications from West Malaysia as well."

Meanwhile, he said UCTS was going for Platinum rating for Green Building Index (GBI).

He said UCTS was designed for the platinum rating, and had to go through assessment for about a year to be qualified.

"We need to prove that in terms of electricity consumption, harvesting of rain water, the technology that we are using to control the lightings are green in nature.

"Once we get it, UCTS will be the only university in the world to get that platinum grade."

Also present at the press conference were Hock Peng Organisation managing director Datuk Toh Chiew Hock and Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) deputy chairman Dato Andrew Wong.

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SLTA gallop into new year with confidence - The Borneo Post Online

Posted: 01 Feb 2014 08:43 AM PST

KUCHING: The state is banking on three players to spearhead Sarawak's tennis challenge for Sukma XVII to be held in Perlis this year.

Aslina Chua, Mohd Assri Merzuki and Ariez Elyas Deen Hesham are the trio touted to lead the state contingent. All three players are currently undergoing training in the United States.

Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association (SLTA) president Dato Patrick Liew is confident the players can deliver gold for Sarawak.

"These players are our current cream of the crop. I believe that they have enough firepower and ammunition to see off the challenges of other players from the other states," he said.

Four gold medals are targetted for the state team for this year's Sukma in June.

Sarawak last competed in Sukma tennis in 2010 winning three gold, five silver and two bronze medals.

The team did not contest the tennis competition in Sukma 2011. Tennis was not included in Sukma 2012 and 2013.

Liew hoped that the New Chinese Year of the horse will bring more prosperity and success to the association.

"We are of course constantly finding ways to improve ourselves as an association. Work will start as soon as possible," he pledged.

The association will also be organising more international tournaments this year.

Liew was speaking to reporters during Chinese New Year open house celebration at his residence here last Friday.

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Brunei and <b>Sarawak</b> mull connectivity for tourism – BorneoPost <b>...</b>

Posted: 23 Jan 2014 11:44 AM PST

KUCHING: The Brunei government has agreed to join Sarawak in enhancing tourism connectivity between the sultanate and the northern region of the state.

Permanent secretary to Ministry of Tourism Datu Ik Pahon disclosed that the agreement came from a closed-door discussion with his ministry and ministerial officials of the neighbouring country.

"The discussion raised several issues on how both can benefit from these activities and boost tourism especially for the towns of Miri and Limbang," he told reporters before the two government's ministerial officials adjourned to the dinner hosted by the Sarawak government at a leading hotel on Wednesday.

"The discussion was carried out between our state government represented by the Minister of Tourism Sarawak Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg while Brunei was represented by Minister of Industry and Primary Resources (MIPR) Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Utama Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Yahya bin Begawan Mudim Dato Paduka Haji Bakar," he added.

Ik Pahon also disclosed how Brunei can be the connectivity hub in the northern region through its international flight connections to become an entry point for tourists who then can enter Sarawak.

"This is because the country's official airline Royal Brunei Airline (RBA) flies to and from Melbourne and also from Brunei to and from London. The idea is that if these passengers can stop in Brunei for two to three days, then they can visit Miri and also Limbang by hinterland transport," he enthused.

"If this is implemented, then this flight connectivity can bring in tourists to spend time here and help our eco-tourism and other tourism products in the northern region," he added.

He also said to ensure that the present discussion is fruitful, a task force from Brunei and the state government will be formed to see how this can be implemented for the mutual benefit of the two countries in tourism.

The other issue discussed in the nearly half an hour meeting between the royal state and the Sarawak government was the border crossing, especially at the Sg Tujuh immigration check-point and customs.

Ik said no decision was made but both ministers agreed that their ministries will take up these matters to be discussed at administrative level on how to address the issue.

The idea is how to make travel seamless, on how to overcome the issue of daily crossing of vehicles and buses at this border point and to let tourists enter and exit Brunei for Sarawak with ease, he said.

He also said that they will bring in the relevant agencies like immigration and customs departments to join the task force group for further discussion with the officials from Brunei.

Also present were Brunei Consul to Sarawak Kamsari Noordin, Assistant Minister of Tourism Datuk Talip Zulpilip, Assistant Minister of Communication and Sports Datuk Lee Kim Shin and State Secretary Tan Sri Datuk Amar Mohamad Morshidi Ghani and officials from both ministries and invited VIPs from Sarawak and Malaysian tourism agencies.

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