By Lim Guan Eng, Chief Minister of Penang
Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and BN are exploiting the imaginary threat of non-Malays and non-Muslims as a bogey to instil fear into Malays and Muslims to distract attention from the real issue of rising prices and the favoured treatment of BN cronies on essential commodities and services such as rice and Independent power generation at the expense of public interest.
For example one of the important crony projects privatised in 1996 relates to our staple food, rice. With the monopoly of rice imports in Malaysia, the concession agreement was extended for Bernas to 2021 in 2011. Until now, BN has refuse to explain why such an extension of time was given.
More importantly BN must come clean on why a tax waiver RM 2.25 billion of duties on rice imports between 2008 and 2013 was given to Padiberas Nasional Bhd (Bernas). How is such a RM 2.25 billion tax waiver benefiting the public? If the price of rice did go down or the poor paddy farmers benefit in some manner, then the public can understand but if the only beneficiary is the private crony, then this is a betrayal of public interest and trust by BN. Further BN should also come clean on whether Bernas received a similar tax exemption before 2008 from the time Bernas was first privatised in 1996?
Bernas’s shareholders are so lucky that Bernas not only obtained a monopoly on rice imports without an open competitive tender but also a RM2.25 billion tax waiver. Were Bernas ultimate shareholders privy to information of such a huge RM2.25 billion waiver in rice import duties that it influenced the majority shareholders’ decision to privatise Bernas in April and removed it from Bursa Malaysia stock listing?
Another BN crony is YTL Power which was listed in 1997 after securing the concession agreement as the first IPP in Malaysia. Since then, YTL Power has paid out 36.3 per cent of earnings to shareholders as dividends with a Compounded Annual Growth Rate(CAGR) of 5.4 per cent since being listed. This compared favourably to CAGR of only 4% for the Malaysian economy in terms of GDP during that period.
YTL’s success in sustainable earnings and above average dividend yield is due to YTL Power’s ability to secure the highest internal rate of return (IRR) for an IPP of 15-19%. And also compel Tenaga Nasonal Bhd to enter into a compulsory power purchase agreement where Tenaga must take at least 90 % cent of the capacity of its plants.
If Tenaga can be compelled to purchase 90% of power produced by IPPs, why shouldn’t IPPs be compelled to compensate the public or Tenaga for the breakdown in power supply as happened recently. The favourable concession agreements given to IPPs do not benefit the public in terms of lower electricity charges. Further there is an extra cost when Tenaga if forced to purchase power it does not need when it has a reserve margin of nearly 30%, one of the highest in the world.
These crony projects have either cost the Malaysian government and its people to lose out on revenue it could otherwise collect. Or Malaysians must pay a higher than market price for commodities and services. Why are these BN cronies who have earned billions of ringgit not threatened in the same manner that ordinary non-Malays and non-Muslims who have not earned billions of Ringgit are threatened with May 13?
