Malaysian conglomerate Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd and global Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto on Tuesday signed an agreement for the proposed development of an aluminium smelter in Sarawak.
Malaysia doesn’t have rich resource of bauxite (raw mineral for aluminium), we don’t have a large market for aluminium, and our labour cost is no longer the cheapest these days… the only reason for Rio Tinto to invest in Sarawak is because of the company’s need for high power supply, which the controversial Bakun Dam will be able to provide.
This raise my questions… why do we build the Bakun Dam at the first place? Isn’t Bakun built to supply sufficient energy for Malaysia for the next few decades?
