Finance Ministry takes over management of scandal-hit SSER

KUALA LUMPUR: The Finance Ministry has taken over the management of Suria Strategic Energy Resources Sdn Bhd (SSER), a company which is now at the centre of a RM9.4bil pipeline scandal.

In a statement, the Finance Ministry said it has appointed deputy secretary-general Datuk Asri Hamidon as chairman of SSER. On June 26, Asri was made the chairman of 1Malaysia Development Bhd or 1MDB.

Asri will be assisted by three members of a new executive committee (exco).

The exco members are former CEO of Agrobank Datuk Wan Mohd Fadzmi Wan Othman, treasury officer Faisal Abdul Ghani and a senior partner at Grant Thornton Malaysia, Hooi Kok Mun.

The ministry said effective June 25, Grant Thornton Malaysia, led by its partner Kishan Jasani, started to manage SSER’s daily operations.

SSER was set up on May 19, 2016 as a wholly owned unit of Minister of Finance Inc, with the specific intent to undertake the multi-product pipeline (MPP) and Trans-Sabah Gas Pipeline (TSGP) projects.

Both projects were approved by the Cabinet on July 26. The MPP involves a 600km multi-product petroleum pipeline connecting Melaka and Port Dickson to Jitra, Kedah costing RM5.35bil. The TSGP, on the other hand, is to build a 662km gas pipeline from the Kimanis Gas Terminal to Sandakan and Tawau costing RM4.06bil.

Both projects amounting to RM9.41bil were awarded to China Petroleum Pipeline Bureau (CPPB) on Nov 1, 2016.

The Finance Ministry, on June 5, revealed that a total sum of RM8.25bil, or 88% of the total project value, had been drawn down and paid to CPPB.

This is despite an average completion rate of only 13%, with another two years of the contracts to go.