Sidek’s daughter got ‘lion’s share’ of solar power deal, Pakatan MPs say

Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan retired as the Chief Secretary to the Government last
month and was immediately named as Petronas chairman. — Reuters pic

KUALA LUMPUR, July 10 — Malaysia’s renewable energy authority must explain the award of nearly two-thirds of a lucrative feed-in tariff (FiT) solar-power contract to the daughter of Petronas’ new chairman Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan despite her inexperience in the industry, two Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lawmakers demanded today.

The DAP’s Tony Pua and his PKR ally Nurul Izzah Anwar highlighted records they said showed Suzi Suliana Mohd Sidek and her business partners were handed the “lion’s share” of the limited contract introduced last year to enable homeowners to feed electricity produced by solar panels onto the national power grid.


They noted that both Suzi Suliana and her husband, Todd Morath, held a controlling stake in various companies that had secured contracts amounting to 32.4 per cent of the energy quota fixed for between 1MW (megawatt) and 5MW, based on a search of the Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM) website.

“Together, they control 45.9MW or 32.4 per cent of the total quota allocated to companies producing 1MW to 5MW, much larger than established companies of Cypark and Petronas Power,” the MPs told reporters.

“This only proves that none of these companies have any track record or experience with solar-power generation, but they were still given the lion’s share of the lucrative solar-power quota,” they said.
They urged Tan Sri Fong Chan Onn, who chairs the Sustainable Energy Development Authority (SEDA), and Energy, Water and Green Technology Minister Datuk Peter Chin, to explain the award and lay to rest allegations of foul play and favouritism among industry players.
Sidek retired as the Chief Secretary to the Government last month and was immediately named as Petronas chairman.