Jumaat, 13 Julai 2012

Philosophy Politics Economics

Philosophy Politics Economics

Will Chua Tee Yong Accept Debate on Talam Debt?

Posted: 13 Jul 2012 07:02 PM PDT

Datuk Chua has become an embarrassment for the MCA as he stumbles from one mega-blunder to another.  I call upon Datuk Chua to end his misery once and for all, with a public and open debate in any language, at a time and place of his choosing, even if it is held at Wisma MCA over the "Talam Debt Recovery: A Billion Ringgit Bailout or a Billion Ringgit Mega-Blunder".

Given Datuk Chua's unwavering confidence over the issue, and the dedicated support of The Star in highlighting all of his press conferences on the front page of the paper, I am certain that the public will be looking forward to see how the rising star of MCA demolish, once and for all, the reputation of the Pakatan Rakyat state government in Selangor.

While the MCA Presidential Council has barred its President from further debates, I am confident that there is no blanket ban against all MCA leaders from participating in debates against DAP leaders.  I very much look forward to Datuk Chua's favourable reply.

Tony Pua vs SYABAS: Latest Update 12/7/12

Posted: 13 Jul 2012 06:57 AM PDT

SEDA Fails to Dubious Approval to Sidek's Daughter's Companies

Posted: 12 Jul 2012 07:05 PM PDT

The explanation by Sustainable Energy Development Authority (SEDA) Chairman Tan Sri Fong Chan Onn that the selection process for Feed-in Approval Holders (FiAH) to supply solar energy is "above board" beyond belief and insults the intelligence of ordinary Malaysians

The Sustainable Energy Development Authority of Malaysia (SEDA Malaysia) is a statutory body formed under the Sustainable Energy Development Authority Act 2011.  The key role of SEDA is to administer and manage the implementation of the feed-in tariff (FiT) mechanism which is mandated under the Renewable Energy Act 2011.

Under this mechanism, individuals and companies with factories and open land as well as companies in the renewable energy sector could apply to SEDA to become a Feed-in Approval Holder which then gives them the right to sell power generated from renewable energy sources to Tenaga Nasional Berhad.

In our press conference held on Tuesday, we have pointed out that 45.9MW or 32.4% of the allocation to supply solar power has gone to 12 companies owned by Suzi Suliana bt Mohd Sidek and her husband, Todd Michael Morath, as well as 2 business partners.  Their ownership is hidden via a complex layer of holding companies and joint ventures.  Their combined allocation is much larger than established companies of Cypark and Petronas Power which received 9.2% and 7.1% of the allocation respectively.

Suzi Suliana happens to be the daughter of Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan, the recently retired Chief Secretary to the Government, and newly appointed chairman of Petronas Bhd.

The Star reported that SEDA Chairman Tan Sri Dr Fong Chan Onn had claimed that "the selection was above board as it was done through an online system".  More specifically, Tan Sri Dr Fong explained that "the companies had met all the necessary technical criteria as well as financial commitments".

If the above is indeed the case, then SEDA under Tan Sri Dr Fong's chairmanship must be extremely incompetent because all of the companies which were awarded the combined total of 45.9MW of solar generated electricity were set up only a few weeks before the 2 December 2011 application deadline.  In fact, at least 8 out of the 12 of companies which was successful was set up only on 11 November 2011.

A random check on two companies – Synergy Must Sdn Bhd and Trinity Creations Sdn Bhd – showed that they had only RM100 in paid-up capital each.

How is it that these companies with no capital, no track record and in all likelihood no employees as at the point of time of application, met "all the necessary technical criteria as well as financial commitments"?  Hence the only conclusion we can arrive at given Tan Sri Dr Fong's reply, is that he is either completely blind, or is lying through his teeth.

What is scandalous is the fact that the quota for solar energy supply is much sought after by industry players due the more lucrative feed-in tariffs offered by the Government.  In fact the demand far outstripped the available quota to the extent that the quota was fully taken up within 2 hours of the application being open.

The Renewable Energy Act 2011 had sought to protect "the need for fair competition and transparency in the implementation of the feed-in tariff system" while the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water wants to "avoid any monopolisation of the Renewable Energy (RE) quota".

And yet what we see is the complete opposite where companies set up by a kin of a top Government official being given the opportunity to secure the largest chunk of the lucrative solar energy supply quota.

We call upon SEDA to re-open the bidding process for the solar energy quota to ensure that all players are given fair treatment, while those who can't possibly meet "all the necessary technical criteria as well as financial commitments" are knocked out from the qualification process

Chua Tee Yong Needs To Do Better Homework

Posted: 11 Jul 2012 07:38 PM PDT


The latest RM57 million "overpayment" alleged by Datuk Chua Tee Yong proves not only the fact that he doesn't do his homework, he also cannot read and count

#1. Datuk Chua can't read and count

MCA today accused the Selangor government of "overpaying" RM57.3 million to Talam Corporation Bhd for 53.74 hectares of land in Danau Putra, Selangor.

Datuk Chua had claimed that the land was over-valued, because it was 80 percent submerged under water.  He asked "Why is the PR Selangor government buying land which is 80 per cent submerged underwater and requires more than RM50 million to fill up before they can commence development?"

Referring to the exact same document which Datuk Chua was using to demonstrate his knowledge during the press conference, the land valuation report by Chartwell ITAC International indeed highlighted the fact that "the cost of filling is estimated of about RM51,500,000".

However, Datuk Chua seems to have failed to read in the same paragraph of the report (page 77 of the Talam Shareholders' Circular dated 15 March 2012) that Chartwell has already "made further adjustment to our valuation by excluding the estimated cost of earth filling of the area under water".

After deducting the above, Chartwell arrived at a professional valuation of RM93.5 million for the land which is even higher than the valuation of RM87.7 million given by state government.  Hence Datuk Chua's accusation that the state has failed to take into account of the submerged land and overpaid as a result, is another simple case of double-counting.  Datuk was basically trying to deduct the cost of filling the land again, even after it has been taken into consideration by the professional valuer.

#2. Datuk Chua failed to do his homework again

Datuk Chua had asked "How come [one of the four parels of] land was auctioned off? And why was the aforesaid plot priced at 2.86 times the auction amount and, assuming the price was RM5.20psf, why did the Selangor government overpay by RM57 million?"

He further added that due to some legal complications, the land was auctioned off on Sept 7 that year.  However, Chua admitted that he did not know state the nature of the legal action that led to the property being auctioned.

Datuk Chua has failed to secure information with regards to the legal "complication" above which might have protected him against making another wild unsubstantiated allegation against the Selangor state government.

A look at the publicly available January 2012 Talam Corporation Bhd Annual Report will immediately disclose the history of the legal complication.  Bangkok Bank Bhd (BBB) had erroneously auctioned the above said property on 7 September 2010 despite being aware that the land is part and parcel of properties being disposed to Menteri Besar (Incorporated) (MBI) under a settlement agreement entered into on 12 March 2010.

Talam has taken legal action against the bank to recover the losses from the land, where the bank auction purchaser bought for RM15 million, well below the transacted value with MBI of RM48.7 million.

However, what proves to be a stroke of business savvy and negotiating genius of the Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim-led MBI was the fact that regardless of the outcome of the legal dispute, the interest of the state in collecting the outstanding debt is not at all compromised.  Talam has disclosed in the Annual Report that "the disposal of this property will not have any significant impact on the MBI settlement agreement".  The Company stated that "if necessary, the Company will identify a piece of land to replace the abovementioned to MBI".

(Page 124 in the Notes to Financial Statement of the 2012 Annual Report)

This proves that the State Government will not lose a single sen over the above transaction unlike what was alleged by Datuk Chua Tee Yong.  It would perhaps have been more productive if he starts shifting his focus to how Talam was able to amass such a huge RM392 million debt with the state government, and perhaps he might be able to find some mud against BN then.

We have shown clearly with facts, figures and documents to prove that all the alleged scandals raised during Datuk Chua's press conferences were completely without basis.  Datuk Chua has proven to be an incompetent leader of the MCA Young Professionals Bureau, making mistakes after mistakes during press conferences.  Datuk Chua should perhaps stop the attempts to dig a deeper hole for himself while attempting to cover up his RM1 billion mega-blunder.

Chua Tee Yong's RM1 Billion Mega-Blunder

Posted: 11 Jul 2012 07:09 PM PDT

Datuk Chua Tee Yong has on 3rd July made headlines in all media by accusing the Selangor state government of committing a RM1 billion land scandal, bailing out financially stricken property developer Talam Corporation.

Since then we have showed clearly that there was not only no bailout, Talam was forced to repay its debts to the state government amounting to RM392 million which were all accrued during the Barisan Nasional regime.

We have also proven that Datuk Chua not only could not tell the difference between debit and credit columns of a balance sheet, he had the uncanny subtraction ability of "two minus one equals three" (2 – 1 = 3) which resulted in the impossible figure of RM1 billion mega-blunder.

However, since then, Datuk Chua has failed to respond or clarify on his mega-billion ringgit blunder.  He only said during his press conference on 5th July 2012 that he'll reply "once he has gathered further information".

"I will give you (the answer) when I receive further information, as I am receiving some on that," he said.

As of today at 11 July 2012, Datuk Chua has still not responded to or corrected his mega-blunder and this only proves that there was never a RM1 billion scandal and the Selangor state government never bailed out Talam as accused by Datuk Chua and MCA.

Never before in the history of Malaysia has a Deputy Minister "exposed" a RM1 billion "scandal" which subsequently become a RM1 billion mega-blunder, and Datuk Chua Tee Yong will suffer the ignominy of becoming the very first in the country.

Tan Sri Sidek Hassan's Daughter Won Lion's Share of Solar Energy Quota

Posted: 10 Jul 2012 07:47 AM PDT

The Sustainable Energy Development Authority of Malaysia (SEDA Malaysia) is a statutory body formed under the Sustainable Energy Development Authority Act 2011.  The key role of SEDA is to administer and manage the implementation of the feed-in tariff (FiT) mechanism which is mandated under the Renewable Energy Act 2011. The authority comes under the purview of the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water.

The FiT is to encourage and develop the use of renewable energy in the country and  is funded by the public via the consumer through a 1% increase in electricity rates for those consuming more than 300kWh.  Under this mechanism, individuals and companies with factories and open land as well as companies in the renewable energy sector could apply to SEDA to become a Feed-in Approval Holder which then gives them the right to sell power generated from renewable energy sources to Tenaga Nasional Berhad.

For solar power generated with photovoltaic, approximately 80% of the quota set is awarded to companies to each produce 1MW up to 5MW of electricity per 6 months.  The rest are awarded to individuals and small companies producing less than 500kW.  The limit to each company is set to protect "the need for fair competition and transparency in the implementation of the feed-in tariff system" as stated in the Act.

The Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water further adds that "in order to avoid any monopolisation of the Renewable Energy (RE) quota, SEDA Malaysia's online system will track the RE installation/plant's milestones via the submitted work plan".

It also states that "no preferential treatment will be given to any FiT application. All FiT applications will be treated fairly and equally through a transparent application process".

On the surface, no one particular company secured more than 10% of the quota allocation.  Out of 32 companies awarded, the biggest recipients are Cypark Resources Bhd (9.2%) and Petronas Power Sdn Bhd (7.1%), and they are established players in the power industry.

However, upon closer scrutiny, 32.4% of the allocation has gone to 12 companies owned by Suzi Suliana bt Mohd Sidek and her husband, Todd Michael Morath, as well as 2 business partners.  Their ownership is hidden via a complex layer of holding companies and joint ventures.

Suzi Suliana who is also the daughter of Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan, the recently retired Chief Secretary to the Government, and newly appointed chairman of Petronas Bhd.

Suzi Suliana (99.999%) and Todd Morath (0.001%) together owns 100% of Sun Energy Ventures Sdn Bhd, which then owns 98% of 3 companies – Hundred Tech Sdn Bhd, Indo Eagle Sdn Bhd and Sharp Crest Sdn Bhd, which holds 51% stakes in 9 companies which secured 32.6MW of the total quota allocated to companies given allocation between 1MW to 5MW.

Suzi Suliana's business partners and shareholders of Sharp Crest and Indo Eagle, Lim Boon Huay and Yap Kian Mun then separately owns 100% of Semangat Sarjana Sdn Bhd, Kenari Pasik Sdn Bhd and Tiara Insight Sdn Bhd,  which then owns 99.999% of 3 companies – Ambang Fiesta Sdn Bhd, Gaya Dunia Sdn Bhd and Rentak Raya Sdn Bhd – which secured 13.3MW of the solar power quota.

Together they control 45.9MW or 32.4% of the total quota allocated to companies producing 1MW to 5MW, much larger than established companies of Cypark and Petronas Power.

What is more shocking is the fact that all of these companies except for Sun Ventures (May 2010) and Uptown Sdn Bhd (September 2011), all the other companies involved were set up only in November 2011, or less than 1 month before applications for the permits were supposed to have been given out on the 2nd December 2011.

This only proves that none of these companies have any track record or experience with solar power generation, but they were still given the lion's share of the lucrative solar power quota.

The award has also created a lot of disquiet and unhappiness in the renewable energy industry with many player claiming foul play and favouritism the in award of the quota.  We call upon Tan Sri Fong Chan Onn, who is the Chairman of SEDA as well as Datuk Peter Chin, who is the Minister in-charge to explain the above award, which has raised doubts about the integrity and competency of the newly establish SEDA.
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