Pua questions Sidek’s daughter’s solar power deal

KUALA LUMPUR, July 16 — The DAP's Tony Pua continued to question the awarding of feed-in tariff (FiT) solar power contracts to companies set up just three weeks before the application deadline.

Showing reporters the Sustainable Energy Development Authority (SEDA)'s Feed-in Approval application form, Pua asked: “Can a company which is freshly set up only three weeks before the application deadline meet the above fairly onerous requirements?”

Pua (picture) and his PKR ally Nurul Izzah Anwar had last Tuesday said that both Suzi Suliana Mohd Sidek and her husband, Todd Morath, held a controlling stake in 12 out of a total of 32 companies that had won the contracts amounting to 32.4 per cent of the nation’s energy quota fixed for between 1MW (megawatt) and 5MW.

Suzi is the daughter of the newly appointed Petronas chairman Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan.

Pua today said that the 12 companies controlled by Suzi, her husband and two other business partners would be able to generate “approximately RM70 million yearly revenue for the 45.9MW (32.4 per cent)”.

He said this would be “around RM1.5 million to RM1.8million per MW”, basing his estimation on the price range for solar energy which he said would be RM0.85 to RM1.78 kWh (kilowatt per hour).

Pua pointed out that applicants must have “a 'site use agreement' for the proposed site to farm the solar energy” and “specific financing compliance.”

According to SEDA’s application form, companies must show that they have in their bank account “a credit balance of at least the total capital cost of the renewable energy installation” if they are self-financed.

If the companies take loans, they must have “at least 20 per cent of the total capital cost” in their bank account.

He had last week claimed that at least eight of the 12 companies were set up on November 11, 2011, three weeks before the December 2, 2011 deadline.

Pua also noted that nine of the 12 companies only had a paid-up capital of RM100 at the time of application.

He claimed that documents from the Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM) show that the all 12 companies share the same address and many of them had the same directors.

Last week, SEDA chairman Tan Sri Dr Fong Chan Onn had said the renewable energy authority was weighing the possibility of suing Pua for defamation.

“You’re welcome to sue me, but still you must answer the public,” said Pua today.

Pua said that both SEDA and its chairman “owe an honest explanation to Malaysians as to how these companies were ‘successful’ with their applications, while many other qualified companies were not even able to secure a single licence.”

Sidek retired as the Chief Secretary to the Government last month and was immediately named Petronas chairman.