MPs can ask for IPP agreements, says Mukhriz

By Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani

Malaysian Insider, 7 June 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, June 7 — Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir said today that details of the contentious independent power producer (IPP) agreements can be requested by MPs to safeguard public interest since lawmakers represent voters.

The Jerlun MP, however, reiterated the government’s contention that the agreements cannot be revealed to the public as the contents are confidential.

“In Parliament, if an MP can ask for anything. You know we are all very transparent about it. If it is within the boundaries of the law then so be it but it is still up to what is said in the agreement,” the deputy minister of international trade and industry told reporters here.

The DAP has been pressuring Putrajaya to declassify the independent power producer (IPP) agreements to justify its failure to restructure the contracts and to allow public scrutiny.

The opposition has stated that the Najib administration would only spur inflation by removing the diesel super subsidy before cutting “big opium” gas subsidies worth RM19 billion for IPPs and commercial power sectors.
However MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek countered that argument by saying that Putrajaya is unable to do so because it is tied up in agreements with various IPPs, and to restructure the agreements would put the government in a bad light.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has said the government expects the subsidy burden to double from RM10.32 billion to RM20.58 billion this year.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak also said fuel subsidies were “like opium” to the Malaysian economy and would have to be gradually slashed as the initial bill of RM11 billion had soared to RM18 billion for the year due to escalating crude oil prices.