By Teoh El Sen
June 6, 2011 | Free Malaysia Today
PENANG: The DAP has demanded that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak explain why the public must suffer high electricity tariffs when the government could cut its subsidy bill by undoing the so-called “gas subsidy scandal” recently exposed by former Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) chief Ani Arope.
Referring to Ani’s allegation that the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) forced TNB to accept lopsided purchase deals with independent power producers (IPPs) nearly 20 years ago, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said a review of those deals would be “more than sufficient” to reduce the subsidy bill.
“Clearly, there is no justification for Putrajaya to hike electricity tariffs by 7%,” he said.
Ani said in a recent Facebook posting that the EPU bullied TNB into buying electricity from an IPP at 14 sen per kilowatt hour (kWh) despite an existing offer of 12 sen.
“You don’t need to go to a fanciful business school to figure out why we need a tariff hike – just revisit the terms given to some IPPs,” he said.
Lim said in a press statement today that Najib must respond to Ani’s allegation.
He said the scandal cost Malaysians RM131.3 billion between 1997 and 2010.
“Up to end 2010, Petronas has extended about RM131.3 billion in gas subsidy to both the power and non-power sectors,” he said. “If the gas prices remain unchanged… about RM27 billion in 2011 would have to be incurred.
“The prime minister must answer why Malaysians must pay for the mistake.”
He also quoted the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers, which said the power sector had yet to translate its price advantage in fuel cost into electricity rates that are more competitive with Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia, where the power sectors pay more for gas.
“The cost of electricity in Malaysia following this hike is nearly at par with Thailand,” he said. “If we compare with Thailand’s rate for low, medium and high voltage, Malaysia’s electricity tariff for all these categories is higher.”
DAP publicity chief Tony Pua recently cited Ani’s 2006 interview with The Star, in which the former TNB chief urged the federal government to declassify the power purchase agreements inked between TNB and the IPPs.
Ani said then that TNB was producing electricity at eight sen per kWh but the government asked it to buy from IPPs at up to 23 sen per kWh within a specific number of years and at a certain volume regardless of its requirements.
Ani helmed TNB between 1990 and 1996. He has claimed that he chose to resign rather than sign the lopsided deals.
#1 by Bigjoe on Monday, 6 June 2011 - 4:55 pm
I think a more relevant fact is Wikileak revelation that Najib’s own team called Najib’s plan a PR exercise even as they were doing it.
I have worked for many top govt officials in many countries. Najib typify many govt officials who never had to deliver each and everyday they go to the office. Even if they don’t have a plan, they are used to actually looking busy and important to keep their jobs and perks. Something always work out for them because they are never fired.
Najib is a civil servant, he is no leader of any kind even a political one. Ask him to respond to Ani Arope revelation? He got his back to the wall and he is not going to say ANYTHING real until he is sure its OK with his puppetmaster Mahathir
#2 by Taxidriver on Monday, 6 June 2011 - 5:54 pm
The father of all racists and grandfather of UNMOB’s corruption culture is feigning ignorance of the matter, acting like a deaf-mute. Najib where got bola to say anything? Mamak knows what Najib did last summer. He’s got photographs Najib with ZZ in a PD hotel room and his intimate moments with a Mogolian beauty who was later murdered by ‘terrorist’
#3 by donplaypuks on Monday, 6 June 2011 - 8:21 pm
The chief beneficiaries of Tenaga’s and Najib’s recent largesse are MMC (Syed Mokhtar), YTL (Francis Yeoh), Genting (Lim family), Powertek (AK) and Taib in Sarawak.
All these parties are big donors to UMNO/BN. This is the precise reason TNB chiefs and BN PM’s absolutely refuse to budge on declassifing the IPP agreements while hiding behind APCOspeak about the ‘evils of subsidies’ and OSA.
With 54 % electricity reserves (absolutely unheard of anywhere else in the civilized world) they can afford to award Syed Mokhtar another $2-3 billion PPA contract for a 1000MW power plant?
What’s the logic? IPPs are paid for electricty we have not, do not, will not and cannot use on ‘take or pay’ 1-sided guaranteed contracts. This OBSCENE reserve margin goes straight into the ground as TOTAL WASTAGE as it cannot be stored in batteries.
And note how the thieves and looters lie. The price of oil and gas has not doubled in the last year. So, how could Govt subsidy for petrol and gas rise from $10 b to $20 b?
And surely, even if it had, Petronas EXTRA profits should have more than covered it. Oh, how they cheat the ordinary citizens and lie while they rifle through our pockets.
Yet they can continue to pay IPPs 2-3 times (16-24 cents per kw)more than what it costs TNB (8 cents) while subsidising them $10-20 billion a year and yet build new TOTALLY WATEFUL power plants? Even when IPPs cost TNB 40% of its operating costs anywhere from $10-20 billion every year?
Remember 1997 when Mahathir said M’sia will be plunged into darkness if we did not have $10 billion Bakun and we are still ok while Bakun has yet to transmit 1KW up to now in 2011?
Now you know who inspired Bernie Madhoff!!
dpp
we are all of 1 Race, the Human Race
#4 by pwcheng on Monday, 6 June 2011 - 10:43 pm
“The prime minister must answer why Malaysians must pay for the mistake”.
I will definitely not give them such gracious remark, eventhough it is between inverted commas.
That was never a mistake but done with ill intention to enrich somebody. The Economic Plundering Unit (as aptly described) was coerced to conspire to plunder the rakyat. So are the Toll operators. All the contracts are intentionally slant with ill intentions and cannot be revealed because it is classified.
UMNO is burning the country and yet there are fools who wants to vote for them.
Sorry, they are actually not fools but UMNO has made them into fools.
#5 by waterfrontcoolie on Monday, 6 June 2011 - 11:06 pm
After over 30 years of indoctrinating the majority of Malaysians through half-truth propaganda, it will take a while to change the mind-set but change will come albeit a little slow for all Rational Malaysians. If the PM wanted to walk away from what his BOSS had created it would not take him this long. It is obvious that he could not decide nor want to decide; he is undecided and is praying hard for the event to solve itself!!!??? I began to believe ‘N’ is the last letter of RAHMAN is coming true! We all have to wait a little longer!
#6 by donng55 on Tuesday, 7 June 2011 - 1:50 am
Why despite rakyat’s repeated pleadings to have the IPP agreements revealed the Government remains in the stupor of indifference and arrogance on this vile issue?
Can’t the PM understand that the harder and the longer the issue is dragged on the more it will look askance and the more suspicious the people would become of what’s the closet?
How can the rakyat still believe that our salvation lay with BN, a coalition of politicians who have gone crass and uppish and have grown careless of the lives of the very people who made good what they are today?
#7 by dagen on Tuesday, 7 June 2011 - 9:21 am
Elsewhere people are given inducement to use reneweble energy sources like solar energy. They are encouraged to install solar panels and are allowed to link with the national grid so that any excess electricity generated by the panels could be supplied to the government for a fee. They actually get paid by the government for the supply.
But this is no good for umno for umno then cannot corner the commission in the energy market. To do this umno set up IPPs or allowed IPPs to be set up and paid them subsidies.
Pakatan should consider terminating those IPPs agmts, if possible, and then encourage the people to use solar energy with similar inducements like those given by the government of other countries.
#8 by k1980 on Tuesday, 7 June 2011 - 9:30 am
The only way to treat these economic plunderers from EPU—–
http://mob1900.globat.com/temp/blogpics3/mob1900_let_em_have_it.jpg