malaysiakini has NOT asked "Why Have Taxpayers been MADE to PAY RM10 billion EXTRA for three POWER PLANTS?"

I believe it was Dr Mahathir who remarked that corruption is so bad now it is above the table.

One major contributing factor is that many deals are not via public tender but via direct negotiations.

Thus it is not surprising as without competitive bids, there is plenty of room for errors and commissions. Even after the RM600mil Scorpene scandal, the authorities have not improved transparency - in fact, things appear to have become worse. Now it is not only done over the table but even reported as news in the national press!

     

The first section relates to the purchase of power generating plants over two years under the Star article 1MDB in RM1.2bil deal.

The second report was done in China under the Star article

Genting sells Suzhou power plant for RM22.34m

All these deals are being finalised by 2013 and thus the purchases make interesting reading; especially since Genting is involved in two of the deals, namely Mastika and Suzhou.

This analysis is different from the two earlier ones and for this table, the percentage of the company purchased is converted to the effective MW purchased.
Thus if 50% of company is bought, then the amount paid is for 50% of the plant's MW as no other details are given.
The column "Actual MW bought" totals the MW of the 3 Power Stations paid by 1MBD and the total is 5704MW for RM12,000 mil.

Now if we analyse the Suzhou deal made by Genting, they could only get RM0.35mil per MW.
If we apply this rate of RM0.35mil per MW to the 1MBD deals totalling 5704MW, the total cost should only be RM1985Mil and not the RM12000mil.

So what has happened to RM10billion of taxpayers funds?
It certainly looks rather fishy without further justifications.  

Something FISHY for the Auditor-General's Annual Report of HORRORS?

This chart is an analysis of two business reports in the Star, Malaysia.

The first section relates to the purchase of power generating plants over two years under the Star article 1MDB in RM1.2bil deal.

The second report was done in China under the Star article

Genting sells Suzhou power plant for RM22.34m

All these deals are being finalised by 2013 and thus the purchases make interesting reading; especially since Genting is involved in two of the deals, namely Mastika and Suzhou.

To explain a little about the table, the "adjust to 100%" is to enable price comparisons as if the entire MW capacity had been bought over.
To do a basic evaluation of the purchases, you need to compare the column "Cost per MW" and this is given in RMmil.
At first sight, it appears that 1MBD has been paying too much for a standard equipment like a power generator.
If you look at the Genting sales, the China deal is almost 10 times sheaper than what 1MBD paid in Malaysia. Was it really on a "willing buyer, willing seller basis'? What was the compelling reasons for such an vast disparity in prices?
It does seem that there has been a very expensive learning curve as 1MDB has managed to reduce the Cost per MW from RM3.27mil to RM1.14mil but even RM1.14mil is three times more expensive than the China deal.

Anyone like to suggest why we are paying so much more for a standard utility? This can only translate to higher electricity tariffs.  
 

malaysiakini and Looking at DEVIOUS DEALS of 1MBD

malaysiakini has this interesting response to the minority shareholders defending the attractive pay package of the CEO of Puncak Niaga - Puncak Niaga chief should be axed, not rewarded and this must be the first time in Malaysian history that a company that is not really making profits has the CEO getting the support of minority shareholders.

I attended the HSBC AGM in London last year and the CEO and other directors came under heavy criticism for the bank's money-laundrying charges in the USA.

Meanwhile, the wheeling and dealing goes on in Malaysia. The chart above is drawn from details of a story in the Star Business Section of 6th July 2013.

It seems that 1MBD has not been really prudent in the purchase of power producing plants. The chart shows the deals made in the past two years and the numbers are not very appealing.

If you study the numbers in the right column, you will note that Malaysian taxpayers paid almost 3 times for the Mastika deal in 2012 compared to the latest one Jimah that is almost finalised on "a willing seller, willing buyer" basis.

One only wonders if the buyer was "too willing" in the first 2 deals or is there a learning curve involved?

Of course the analysis is only dealing with the raw data. Other factors can be considered like:

1. How profitable are the companies?

2. How well maintained are the plants?

3. How obsolete are the plants?

4. What contracts do these plants have with the main purchasers?

Do you think the agreements are DEVIOUS or OK?

(note: price adjusted to reflect 100% ownership to enable comparisons)