Datuk Seri Najib Razak said today his government was siding with the people on power deals as it was still negotiating on terms with independent power producers (IPPs).
The prime minister also denied Putrajaya was only looking out for the interests of IPPs, seen to continue to enjoy the billion-ringgit subsidies courtesy of political patronage.
“The IPPs now, most of their formulas are no longer one-sided,” Najib told reporters after the Umno Ampang division annual meeting here. “We are negotiating with IPPS but it is not accurate to say we are on IPPs’ side.
“We are fighting for the people. The government will explain further on the IPPs because we are still negotiating.”
The Umno president said the government would come up with a statement in the “not too distant future”.
Following growing calls for power purchasing agreements to be reviewed, Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah earlier today announced that a Cabinet committee had been formed to evaluate the matter.
According to Bernama Online, he said the committee would study various aspects of power supply and not just the problem of independent power producers. Among them are production costs and requirements for the future because there were IPPs whose concessions were due to end in 2014 and 2015.
The committee comprises Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Nor Mohd Yakcop; Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Peter Chin; and Husni.
It remains to be seen if the establishment of the committee will be enough to assuage lawmakers calling for a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) to probe the apparently lopsided power deals between Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) and the IPPs.
First to sound the call yesterday was Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, who said it was crucial to tackle the issue of rising power prices before the effect began to take bigger bites out of the average consumer.
Today, the Umno stalwart found support in DAP, when secretary-general Lim Guan Eng added his party’s voice to that of the Kelantan prince.
The Cabinet raised power tariffs by an average of 7.12 per cent effective June 1, in a bid to trim a growing subsidy bill and widening fiscal deficit.
But the move has also thrown the spotlight on the purchasing power agreements that TNB is engaged in with the IPPs.
Opposition lawmakers have rounded on the Najib administration for wielding the knife on consumer aid while leaving gas subsidies to power producers — to the tune of RM19 billion this year — largely untouched.
The power purchasing agreements between TNB and the various IPPs are classified under the Official Secrets Act.
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If you are negotiating, Najib, lets be transparent about it. Put all the negotiations on the internet so that we can all see and judge for ourselves whether UMNO is serving the interests of the IPPs or the rakyat's interest.
The rakyat want more transparency, and that includes the way the Elections Commission determines electoral boundaries.
Anything to do with their cronies is an Official Secret. The rest of the rakyat can't even take their pants off in a hotel room without getting videotaped.
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