PRESS
RELEASE
IN
SUNGAI SIBUGA, 27 JULY 1997
PBS:
STATE GOV’T GIVEN RAW DEAL IN PRIVATISED SEB
SUNGAI
SIBUGA, Sun. – Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) today claimed the 20%
share offered to the Sabah government in the privatised SEB was
a mere token and grossly insufficient considering that SEB still
have an outstanding debt of about RM200 million with the State.
Its
deputy president Dr Maximus Ongkili said Sabah deserved a larger
share in the new SEB given that power supply was an important public
utility and that SEB was yet to pay the State government the financial
compensation when the agency was handed over to the Federal government
in 1982.
Dr
Ongkili was officiating the 12th Annual General Meeting
(AGM) of the Sungai Sibuga PBS division this morning which was attended
by about 500 party leaders and supporters.
"Based
on information received, SEB is yet to settle an outstanding debt
of about RM200 million with the State government, accumulated over
the last 15 years. Now Sabah is given only 20% share in the privatised
SEB while private companies will hold 40%, with Konsortium Tenaga
Teguh holding a larger share than the State government at 30%.
"Clearly,
the State government has been given a raw deal in the privatisation
of SEB", he said.
Dr
Ongkili also disagreed with TNB executive chairman Datuk Tajuddin
Ali’s statement yesterday that Sabahans would remain the majority
shareholders of SEB just because the two private companies are Sabah-based.
"As
in most cases, Sabah-based companies are not necessarily owned and
controlled by Sabahans. Local shareholders are often used as proxies
for big non-Sabahans corporate players. Moreover, such companies
change hands within weeks after the deal is settled, usually taken
over by large public listed companies", he contended.
He
urged the Federal government to disclose publicly its compensation
repayment plan for the amount owed by SEB to the State government,
adding "all debts should be paid even before the new shareholders
stake their claim on SEB".
The
Bandau member of parliament also urged the Federal government and
TNB to disclose its staff deployment plan for existing SEB officers
and employees, claiming that SEB employees had expressed uncertainty
as to their future employment.
"We
have been reliably informed that about a dozen senior TNB officers
moved into SEB about three week ago to take over the management
of SEB, although the contract for TNB to manage SEB was only signed
yesterday. As a result senior officers of SEB have been displaced
without any undertaking given about their future deployment or employment.
"This
is certainly unfair and high handed on the part of TNB. We further
understand that until today the SEB Employees Union has been ignored
in any discussion on matters affecting future deployment of Sabah
officers and new terms and conditions of service that will be enforced",
he alleged.
Dr
Ongkili urged the Federal government and new shareholders of SEB
to ensure that the interests of all local officers and employees
be protected and that the principles of fairness and justice were
practised in their redeployment.
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