KUALA LUMPUR (Mar 25): Opposition lawmakers want the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water to terminate and penalise Independent Power Producers (IPPs), namely 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and Malakoff, for failing to finance  and deliver their concessions.

"Why are new IPP contracts awarded to 1MDB and Malakoff which have failed to commence their respective projects due to financial difficulties?" asked Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua at the parliament lobby today.

Pua was commenting on the response from the minister that said previously that both companies had obtained official support from financial institutions to prove their financial capacities to undertake these projects.

Pua said the response from the minister was highly unsatisfactory because both power plant projects were "severely delayed and will run into hundreds of millions of ringgit".

Every year's delay to the completion of each of the power plant projects would cost Malaysian consumers RM644 million in higher electricity prices, he said.

"Shouldn't such a consortium have been formed to bid for the project, and not after it was discovered that 1MDB wasn't able to proceed with the project?" asked Pua.

Moreover, the award of the power plant concession contracts to 1MDB has become an even more expensive exercise, stating that Project 3B was awarded to 1MDB despite 1MDB not submitting the lowest tariff rate.

The Project 4, on the other hand, was awarded directly without any tender at all, he also pointed out.

"Why should we allow 1MDB to profit from a contract that it is unable to deliver via a license granted by the government when it is now trying to be a lead player in a consortium of companies?

"Is it not shameful that 1MDB becomes an ali-baba company which owns exclusive rights to government-owned projects which will ultimately be delivered by the other consortium partners?" he asked.

Pua also asked if the immense burden on Malaysians is justified just to bail out the heavily indebted 1MDB.

Serdang MP Dr Ong Kian Ming, who was also present at the press conference, asked if the Project 3B would be given to Tenaga Nasional Bhd, given 1MDB’s failure to raise the necessary financing for the project.