Disclose how much each IPP made from SESB, Raymond urged

KOTA KINABALU: Deputy Chief Minister and Industrial Development Minister Datuk Raymond Tan has been urged to further enlighten Sabahans by revealing how much did each independent power producer (IPP) in Sabah made from Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB).

Making the call, Parti Warisan Sabah vice president Junz Wong said according to his source, there should be eight IPPs in Sabah and one of them was Ranhill.

“A media news which stated Ranhill aimed for another IPP in Sabah, has revealed that Ranhill (in 2016 second quarter) has reported net profit of RM37 million.

“The Ranhill financial report (found on the internet and I stand to be corrected) has stated that its profit before tax was RM143 million and RM185 million in year 2017 and 2016 respectively.

“So it’s crucial to reveal how much are IPPs making all these years from SESB in order to know how to restructure the company,” he said in a statement yesterday.

Junz, who is Likas assemblyman, agreed with Raymond that SESB has been making good profit all these years.

He added that in 2014, SESB made RM96.7 million in profit; in 2015 RM96.8 million surplus; RM128.7 million in 2016; and as of August, last year, declared an income of RM44.7 million.

“I would hereby give a better proposal to Datuk Raymond Tan, that is to propose to Chief Minister Tan Sri Musa Aman to take over at least 51% shares of SESB instead of just 10%. What’s the point if its just additional 10% and can’t control SESB,” he said.

Junz reminded all Sabahans that Musa had clearly stated in the state assembly that the Sabah government was considering taking back SESB but did not do so simply because it was not making profit back two to three years ago.