es-gun-during
-talks-with- tnb/
IPP team leader brandishes gun at talks with Sabah TNB
posted on Saturday, 21 February 2009
Big money is at stake in negotiations between national electricy
corporation
TNB and private electricity producers (IPPs).
The stakes can get really high. Check out what happened in Sabah during
negotiations between TNB subsidiary Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) and
an
IPP said to be Sabah-based.
This report from the NST:
http://nst.com. my/Current_ News/NST/ Saturday/ Frontpage/
2485798/Article/ index_html
Present were 14 people, including TNB officers, representatives
from the IPP and the TNB subsidiary, as well as lawyers and an
official from the Energy, Water and Communications Ministry.
The discussion was to thrash out a deal for TNB to purchase
power from the IPP, which has a 100MW capacity.
The going was tough and one of the SESB officials told the IPP
representatives not to twist their arms.
"The leader of the IPP's team said 'arm-twisting is nothing',
then took out his pistol and brandished it in front of them,"
said a source.
The move left the negotiating team in shock, which only
intensified when the man, a Datuk, took out his gun again and
laid it on the table as the discussions went on.
The incident was all the more alarming as it happened at TNB's
National Load Dispatch Centre (NLDC) in Bangsar -- a top
security facility designated "Key Point Level 1", for areas of
national security importance.
Who do these IPPs think they are?
It's time for the government to get tough and renegotiate the deals with
the
IPPs, many of which are way too lop-sided in favour of the private
companies - at the people's expense. Of course, it was the BN government,
mainly during Mahathir's time, that came up with these lop-sided power
purchase agreements in favour of the IPPs. The result: TNB, which the
Malaysian public largely owns via Khazanah and EPF, is today bleeding red
ink as it forks out cash to the IPPs for electricity it doesn't need.
==
http://nst.com. my/Current_ News/NST/ Saturday/ Frontpage/ 2485798
/Article/index_ html
Gun shock at power deal talks
By : Marc Lourdes 2009/02/21
KUALA LUMPUR: Is business in Malaysia looking down the barrel of a gun?
Judging by what an independent power producer (IPP) tried to pull with a
Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) subsidiary recently, it looks like it.
The incident occured during negotiations between TNB subsidiary Sabah
Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) and the IPP on Thursday afternoon.
The IPP is also said to be Sabah-based.
Present were 14 people, including TNB officers, representatives from the
IPP
and the TNB subsidiary, as well as lawyers and an official from the
Energy,
Water and Communications Ministry.
The discussion was to thrash out a deal for TNB to purchase power from the
IPP, which has a 100MW capacity.
The going was tough and one of the SESB officials told the IPP
representatives not to twist their arms.
"The leader of the IPP's team said 'arm-twisting is nothing', then took
out
his pistol and brandished it in front of them," said a source.
The move left the negotiating team in shock, which only intensified when
the
man, a Datuk, took out his gun again and laid it on the table as the
discussions went on.
The incident was all the more alarming as it happened at TNB's National
Load
Dispatch Centre (NLDC) in Bangsar -- a top security facility designated
"Key
Point Level 1", for areas of national security importance.
The NLDC is responsible for maintaining the flow of power to the entire
country.
Anyone carrying any weapon into the premises has to declare it at the
entrance -- something which was not done by the IPP's team leader.
TNB's top management is furious over the incident, and a police report was
lodged yesterday.
It is believed that Special Branch had also been informed.
According to sources, TNB is also going to write to the Energy Commission
on
what transpired.
The progress of the negotiations is unknown.
When contacted, Brickfields deputy police chief Supt Azri Abd Rahman
confirmed that a report had been lodged.
However, he noted the report did not indicate any element of threat or
intimidation. "We are still investigating and will ascertain the truth of
the matter."
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