MoF Inc appoints new exco for Suria Strategic Energy Resources

PETALING JAYA: The Minister of Finance Inc (MoF Inc) has appointed a new executive committee (exco) which includes newly appointed 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) chairman Datuk Asri Hamidon for its subsidiary, Suria Strategic Energy Resources Sdn Bhd (SSER).

Asri, who is also the deputy secretarygeneral overseeing government investment at the Treasury, will chair the exco which will oversee the two RM9.4 billion pipeline projects under SSER, after checks found that 88% of the contract sum had been paid out even before land rights for the pipeline projects were secured.

The rest of the exco comprises former Agrobank CEO Datuk Wan Mohd Fadzmi Wan Othman, Grant Thornton Malaysia senior partner Hooi Kok Mun and Faisal Abdul Ghani of the Finance Ministry.

Effective June 25, 2018, daily operations of SSER have been managed by Grant Thornton Malaysia, led by the firm’s partner, Kishan Jasani.

SSER was set up to undertake the MultiProduct Pipeline and the Trans-Sabah Gas Pipeline projects.

The MoF Inc which is the sole shareholder of the company, took control of SSER’s offices on June 5, after which the offices were raided by the Malaysian AntiCorruption Commission and staff were put on garden leave.

SSER president Datuk Mohammed Azhar Osman Khairuddin was removed, as the government intensified investogations into the scandal involving the two pipeline projects.

Meanwhile, in a separate statement yesterday, 1MDB clarified that the appointment of Datuk Mohammad Faiz Azmi as the chairman of the executive committee is part of the scope and services provided by PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory Services Sdn Bhd (PwC) to 1MDB.

“PwC is assisting the board and the Exco in recovering 1MDB’s assets and in managing the company’s debt,” 1MDB said in the statement.