Groundswell against YTL but pro-PKR The Edge defending

This picture just got in of TNB staff unions demonstrating against the company from having anything to do with YTL.

In Kg Chubadak, the 40-year original settlers of the village is up in arms against YTL and authorities for denying them land grants but gave the faceless corporation YTL the land title to evict them. 

Words are that teachers all over the country are furious with the YTL's Bestari.net which failed to deliver their system, is being seen as having pre-emptive intention to "cheat" the Government.

All it takes is a spark for a nationwide demonstration against YTL, which could be far bigger than the TNB demonstration.

With all of these happenings, it is strange that The Edge, owned by pro-Anwar Dato Tong Kooi Ong, is defending YTL. Read below and note the bold words:

EC justifies award of Track 4A on direct negotiation

Business & Markets 2014   
Written by Janice Melissa Thean of theedgemalaysia.com
Friday, 13 June 2014 10:32

KUALA LUMPUR: The Energy Commission (EC) has emphasised that the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) portion of the Track 4A power plant project in Johor must undergo a competitive bidding process, in a bid to justify the award of the project on a direct negotiation basis.

The controversial power plant project was awarded to a local consortium via direct negotiations earlier this month.  The consortium consists of YTL Power International Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) and SIPP Energy Sdn Bhd, which is linked to the Johor royal family.

“In consideration of the medium-term planning scenario and current operational parameters, it was decided that there is a need to fast track the construction of a combined cycle gas power plant using proven technology that was scheduled to be operational in 2020, to an earlier date in 2018,” Minsiter of Energy, Green Technology and Water Datuk Seri Panglima Dr Maximus Ongkili told the press after a session in Parliament yesterday.

The EC had decided that the best way to meet this requirement was through a conditional offer while still stipulating the need for competitive bidding for the EPC portion.

“The Track 4A project was awarded with [the] condition that the technical and commercial proposals are acceptable to the EC while the competitive levelised tariff must be comparable to the last tender exercise. Hence, the allegation of unreasonable tariff rates for the said power purchase agreement [PPA] should not arise at all,” said Dr Ongkili.

“The Cabinet considered all angles before taking this decision to fast track the planting up of the 1,000mw to 1,400mw plant,” he said, adding that the project was awarded to the consortium based on the competitive rates offered in the recently concluded tender exercise for Track 3B.

According to previous articles in The Edge weekly and the Financial Daily, the need to fast track the planting up may have been highlighted by the recent power disruptions across Peninsular Malaysia which affected six states. The unplanned outages involved 3,860mw, comprising 3,000mw by TNB generation plants and 860mw by independent power producer (IPP) plants.

TNB was forced to import electricity six times from Thailand and twice from Singapore this year in order to stabilise the grid and restore power to the states. Due to permanent deration, the installed capacity in 2014 had to be revised downward by 450mw from 21,509mw to 21,060mw.

Dr Ongkili said the electricity generation reserve margin in the peninsula is “no longer comfortable”.

“The reserve margin in 2011 was at 6,341mw or 41% of the installed capacity and the average actual operating reserve was at 3,822mw or 24.7% of the installed capacity. In 2014, the reserve margin is 4,159mw (24.6%) and average actual operating reserve is at 1,510mw (8.9%),” he said.

“The government is deeply concerned by this major reduction in actual operating reserve and hence instructed the ministry to review the planting up of power plants for the next 10 years.”

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on June 13, 2014.

In an article with similar title in The Edge publication dated June 9th, the attempt to promote and defend YTL is more prominent.

The Edge wrote that the profit margin for project 4A is razor thin and technical requirement is stringent. Read below:

They claimed it is high financial risk to justify a higher tariff than Track 1's 34.7 sen /kWh. Direct nego and higher tariff.

Hmmm .... YTL has gotten too complacent or greedy since Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim raised the tariff for the first IPP to enable Anwar's crony in Realmild enjoy a higher tariff and profit margin.

The instruction letter from Anwar is available in TNB. All government could do is lift it's OSA status. Read in previous posting here.

In their attempt to defend albeit in a transparent style, The Edge quoted TNB officials reluctance to comment on diret nego and land issue.

The land could be the hidden jewel in the deal.

And The Edge tried to champion YTL's new technlogy that was the reason they lost in another IPP tender to 1MDB.

That is one among many reasons The Edge is endlessly bitching about 1MDB. In last week's issue, they were recycling an accusation made of 1MDB on issues that had been thoroughly answered.

The Star also was pitching for YTL to get a direct nego in this sympathy seeking article: Point of no return? Only the Association of Water Research express opposition to direct nego. Read The Edge here.

For whatever excuse The Edge is giving for YTL, a pertinent question intentionally left out is that this fast track IPP is not due till 2018, so why can't there be an open tender and not a loyal command?

Isn't it interesting that The Edge is defending YTL for a direct nego but YTL is the name that Anwar bandied around to picture IPP as an evil corporation sucking the blood out of every Malaysians' pockets?

In fact, we are aware that YTL used to be closed to Anwar when he was Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister and political sources claimed he contributed election fund to Anwar in the last general election.

The blood sucker is still trying to make more money by demanding more subsidies for past use from Petronas, Read The Star here.

So, is poster making the right accusation?

For TNB staff and workers and our many friends and family members inside, we support their fight:

It is heard YTL may not get what they want this time and they better not.

Updated: Sun, 15 Jun 2014 22:59:58 GMT

Controversial Johor power plant under scrutiny after royal flap, Yeoh crony remark

Malaysia Insider

A controversial multi-billion ringgit Johor power plant deal is coming under close scrutiny as part of a backlash against tycoon Tan Sri Francis Yeoh's (pic) now famous speech on cronyism and widespread concern over legislation that would have given the Sultan of Johor executive powers in the state, say sources.

Yeoh's YTL Power International Bhd, the Johor ruler's SIPP Energy Sdn Bhd and national electricity provider Tenaga Nasional Bhd have been awarded the Track 4A combined gas cycle project that could generate up to 1,400 megawatt (MW) of power under a controversial directly-negotiated deal.

There have been allegations of secretive meetings in London attended by officials from the consortium and a senior minister of the Najib administration. Also being openly talked about is the involvement of a family member of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in the promotion of the new IPP or independent power producer.

But it is only in recent days have the press started lifting the veil on the award of the project. At the same time, members of the Energy Commission have been on the defensive over the award of the Track 4A power plant through direct negotiation, instead of conducting an open tender.

This latest development is largely due to Yeoh's infamous comments that Malaysia must do away with crony capitalism and take advantage of its ethnic diversity to gain greater economic achievements and compete globally.

At the Global Malaysia Series forum run by Putrajaya's efficiency unit Pemandu, the tycoon had allegedly said that 85% of YTL’s businesses were in Britain, Singapore and Australia because these countries did not tolerate corruption, practise meritocracy and stand for the rule of law.

“For example in Singapore, we own a third of Singapore’s electricity; there is no subsidy of any kind, there is no cronyism of any type.

“The good thing about these three territories, I don't have to kowtow to the prime minister before I do a deal, I don't have to see them even, even after I’ve won the deal," he was quoted as saying at the event.

Yeoh later clarified that his words were misrepresented and apologised but it was too late and he has been savaged in the media by Umno politicians and former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad whose administration gave YTL its first power project.

At the same time, there is concern about the Johor ruler, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, who was in the news last week over his role in a housing and property board law that some say would lead to the throne being involved in government decisions. A slew of last minute amendments to the proposed enactment limited the ruler's role but the new law has yet to be signed into effect.

Barisan Nasional (BN) sources say Putrajaya is making overtures to the state ruler to find another partner for the project as there are also objections from TNB worker unions over YTL's participation in the Track 4A deal.

The SIPP-YTL consortium had earlier bid for the RM11 billion Project 3B to build a 2,000 megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant with its closest competitor being the government's 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

The Malaysian Insider understands that the consortium was deeply upset that it lost out to 1MDB in the larger power plant project and made its displeasure known to Najib and members of the Energy Commission.

It is uncertain if the government awarded the 4A power plant in Johor to appease the powerful and well-connected members of the Sultan of Johor-YTL consortium.

Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili said earlier this month that Putrajaya had considered all options before awarding the project to the SIPP-YTL-TNB consortium.

“Everything is in order. The Cabinet considered all angles before taking this decision to fast track the planting up of the 1,000 MW to 1,400 MW plant.

“The terms are being finalised by the Energy Commission,” he said, adding that there was a condition for the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) portion of the project to undergo competitive bidding process.

But there is growing pressure for YTL to drop out of the consortium to prove that there is no crony capitalism in Malaysia apart from pressure for open bidding for the entire project. – June 16, 2014.

That is just TNB.

In the case of Bestari.net, teachers will be a bigger and louder number to handle.

It is incomprehensible that the Internet line put in place by YTL for Bestari.net is only for 4MB line which is too small, and the school have to pay RM280 per month. Our Unifi home use is 10 MB and  cost hardly RM200 but still too expensive.

Some civil servants must be taking something from YTL, which is their usual modus operandi to pay off insiders. There are lots of senior civil servants past and present in their payroll but it is the politicians that gets the blame for ill-advised and ill-informed mistakes from the "civil service".