Naim Holdings and Cahya Mata Sarawak will develop a township in Samalaju, Sarawak, to cater for an estimated 50,000 workers and their families.
Naim Holdings Bhd plans to partner Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd (CMS) and a local government agency to build a RM1.5 billion township in Samalaju, Sarawak, which will cater for the expected boom in the working population.
The Samalaju Industrial Park is located 80km north of Bintulu and the proposed township will be home to those who will work at a giant aluminium smelter and other high-technology industries.
The new township, covering an area in excess of 2,200ha a few kilometres from the Samalaju Industrial Park, will cater for the estimated 50,000 workers and their families.
Construction will start next year and the township will be developed over 10 years.
"The township is really required there. It won't work to have the workers commute between Bintulu and Samalaju," Bintulu Development Authority (BDA) general manager Datuk Mohidin Ishak said in Kuching.
The state government has approved the town's master plan, he said.
Yesterday, BDA signed a memorandum of understanding with Naim and CMS to form a joint-venture company. Naim will hold 60 per cent of the tie-up, with CMS having 30 per cent and BDA the balance.
Naim was represented by executive director Datuk William Wei, and CMS by group managing director Datuk Richard Curtis.
Mohidin said that their first priority would be the construction of "world-class standard" temporary camps for the 3,000 to 5,000 workers involved in building the town and those whose companies would be relocating to the industrial park.
Construction of the camps just a kilometre from the park will start very soon and is scheduled for completion by the first quarter of next year, Wei said.
The camps will be converted into storage facilities when the construction frenzy is over.
Construction of the township will only start next year.
Wei said that it would have all the amenities of a modern township.
"There will be schools, a police station, medical facilities, commercial centres and recreational facilities."
The Samalaju Industrial Park is an integral part of the state's industrial development corridor, the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy.
At least two smelting plants, including the proposed Sarawak Aluminium Co - a joint venture between mining giant Rio Tinto and CMS - will be sited in the area.
There will also be a plant from Japan's Tokuyama Corp that will make solar panels and a new deepwater port.
By Business Times
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