A concerned Malaysian writes about Malaysian affairs. "You are the Change you Seek" Barack Obama

Monday, June 9, 2008

Opening PETRONAS' Accounts and the Toll Agreements will Definitely Help Us Understand...

In this malaysiakini article headed
"PM: Understand reasons for fuel hike"
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/84133

the PM urges
"the public would acquire the right information on the global fuel price hike phenomenon in order to really understand what the country was facing."

No one denies that oil prices have surged drastically during the past 12 months but since we are still a net exporter of oil, as far as oil is concerned Malaysian still makes a net profit irrespective of price. Furthermore our oil demands a premium as it is of low sulphur - we export top quality oil and buy the cheaper more polluting grade.

The question that needs to be asked is the details of the production sharing agreement. Did we commit our sales for many years in advance at much lower prices than the current market rates?
As far as TNB is concerned, our coal-fired generators are now using a commodity that has reached record prices recently and so TNB may be badly affected.

I agree with the PM that Malaysians should get the right information. How about opening up PETRONAS' accounts and all the secret toll agreements? That would be a step in the right direction.

2 comments:

crower said...

Apart from Petronas accounts and the toll concession agreements, disclose agreements on all concession matters as well, primarily the agreement between TNB and the independent electricity providers.

An interesting issue was pointed out in Money Matters a few months ago where one of the panel members described the agreement that agreement between TNB and the independent electricity providers favors the independent electricity providers to the extent that it is causing massive losses to TNB.

Also, disclose the details of the Concession Agreement relating to the Privatisation of Water Supply in Selangor, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya to SYABAS.

PeterP said...

Agree with crower. All these secret agreements do not favour the govt or the people.

I recall when Jabatan Telekom was privatized to TMB, the first thing they did was raise local calls from 10sen to 13sen!

The same with Pos Malaysia, the amalgamation of banks, the sudden profusion of tolled highways, etc,etc which all raise the cost of living in the country.