Sime claims $214 mln from Malaysia govt over dam-media

KUALA LUMPUR May 8 (Reuters) - Malaysia's Sime Darby (SIME.KL) has put in a claim of 700 million ringgit ($214.2 million) to the government for carrying out civil works on a dam, the Edge newspaper said on Saturday citing unnamed sources.

The Edge said the latest claim was in addition to an earlier claim of 708 million ringgit that the government had agreed to reimburse to Sime for its work on the Bakun hydroelectric dam in Malaysia's Sarawak state on Borneo island.

If the claim is approved, the total cost of the civil works for the Bakun dam will rise to 3.2 billion from the initial 1.8 billion ringgit that was awarded to the Malaysia-China Hydro joint venture in 2002 that Sime leads, the Edge said.

"Also the new completion date that Sime is seeking to hand over the dam is December this year, "the Edge cited a source as saying. The previous deadline was June this year.

A Sime spokeswoman had no immediate comment.

Sime's shares have fallen more than 2 percent since Wednesday when news surfaced that Malaysia's largest listed company incurred more than 1 billion ringgt in cost overruns on the Bakun project. [ID:nSGE644005]

That prompted investment bank CIMB to cut its call on Sime to neutral. [ID:nWNAS8622]

Bakun's owner is Sarawak Hidro, a unit of the Ministry of Finance, that was mandated to manage the construction of the dam after the government took over the project in the 1990s.

The over $8 billion dam was supposed to be completed by end-2007 but inaccurate soil studies by Sarawak Hidro complicated civil works portion of the dam, the Edge said citing an official with the dam's contractors.

The delay in civil works has prompted the turbine suppliers to the dam -- France's Alstom (ALSO.PA) and Impsa Malaysia to submit claims to Sarawak Hidro of about 450 million ringgit, local media earlier reported.

Under the terms of the contract, Sarawak Hidro can impose the two companies' claims on the Sime-led civil works JV.

The Edge, without specifying the source of its information, said Sime is appealing against the government imposing the claims by the turbine suppliers on its JV as the delays were beyond its control.

($1=3.268 Malaysian Ringgit)

(Reporting by Niluksi Koswanage)