Every single citizen of Malaysia has the right to know and to question about the development of the geothermal power plant at Apas Kiri, Tawau, the first in the country, as it essentially involved public funds.
The said power plant which is being developed by Tawau Green Energy Sdn Bhd (TGE), has been awarded RM35 million grant by the Federal Government, and the money is essentially from the taxpayers.
Therefore, it’s misleading for anyone to claim that “the project will incur zero-cost to the government”.
Dr Maximus was reported to have said: “The opposition keeps asking why the project was delayed and how much would it cost the government. Why bother about that? The developer has already signed the Power Purchase Agreement with Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) and if the project were delayed or behind schedule, it is their (developer) loss.” He told reporters in Tawau during his visit there recently.
TGE had in a press statement posted on its official website on 27 May 2012 informed the public that, they have signed Facilitation Fund Agreement between the company and Public Private Partnership Unit of the Prime Minister’s Department, with Bank Pembangunan Malaysia entrusted with disbursing the grant of RM35 million which is meant to help fund construction costs of the project’s preliminary infrastructure.
Thus, I would like to question Dr Maximus whether he was unaware of the said Federal grant.
Isn’t the RM35 million Federal Grant an allocation by our BN government? Are you not aware of it?
The RM35-million worth of access road leading to the TGE site has been poorly maintained and in poor condition now, after the project appeared to have been ‘abandoned’ since early of this year.
The people have every right to express their concerns with the status of the said project which is under purview of Dr. Maximus’ ministry.
As a people-elected representative, I too have the duty and responsibility to inquire about the project, especially since it is located in adjacent to my constituency.
While we welcome the 30MW power supplement to the SESB, we reject any white elephant project.
Furthermore, the site is located in Andrassy, which was formerly a first class virgin forest and a pristine water catchment area. We have sacrificed our natural heritage in exchange for the first geothermal power plant project in the country. Don’t tell us our logs fell apart for nothing!
Why should we promote a Lebanese led company to develop the project but yet to see any substantial progress out of it? If the current company can’t perform well, why don’t we look for qualified locals to take over it?
Online news portal the Malaysian Insight has recently reported that the RM419 mil project “is close to abandonment” citing an ongoing dispute between the two major shareholders of TGE.
The plant was expected to start operation in June 2018. TGE, after inking a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the University of Auckland in March 2014 on the development of geothermal energy, had announced that the plant would be operational in 2016. One of the shareholders involved reportedly was Ramzi Sarofim Kozhya Raad, a Lebanese citizen who is also TGE’s managing director.