Kota Kinabalu MP Chan Foong Hin also wanted the authorities to continue probing the multi-billion ringgit project to determine if there were any suspicious dealings or connections.
“Renegotiate the terms with China, the project developer, as we have paid about 85% of the money but the real work done has only been 13%… we can’t just waste the money with nothing to show.
“There should also be a thorough investigation on the TSGP project,” he said.
Chan was commenting on Energy, Technology, Science, Climate Change and Environment Minister Yeo Bee Yin’s reply to his question in the Dewan Rakyat today.
Chan, who is Sabah DAP secretary, had asked about the TSGP and the status of the Sandakan gas power plant in Sabah’s east coast.
Yeo said the TSGP was a legacy problem and that the gas power plant has been put on hold.
The finance ministry had last month suspended three high-profile and multi-billion projects, namely the Multi-Product Pipeline (MPP), TSGP and East Coast Rail Link.
The construction value for the MPP and TSGP, which were awarded to China Petroleum Pipeline Bureau (CPPB), was RM9.4 billion, with the TSGP costing RM4.06 billion.
The TSGP comprises a 662km-gas pipeline from Kimanis to Sandakan and Tawau.
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng revealed that Suria Strategic Energy Resources Sdn Bhd (SSER), a company backed by the ministry, had approved payments amounting to 87.7% of the project cost to CPPB.
Lim said the transactions by SSER was “highly suspicious” because both pipeline projects were only about 13% completed.
“The money we paid to the TSGP contractor is in fact enough for us to implement a lot of programmes or projects to improve the electricity supply in Sabah,” Chan said.
He said Sabah’s east coast would still need to rely on power being transferred from the west coast in the absence of an anchor power plant as the Sandakan gas power plant project had been put on hold.
“I urge the government to come up with these initiatives targeted to increase the power connectivity,” he said, adding that he welcomed the steps that will be taken by Yeo’s ministry in this regard.
Yeo had earlier said the government aimed to lower the power disruption in Sabah, which was almost five times more than in the peninsula.
People in Sabah experience an average of four hours of power outage compared to less than an hour for those living in the Peninsular.
Yeo said the authorities would try to bring down the system average interruption duration index (Saidi) by 58% or to 100 minutes per consumer by 2020.
While Sabah technically had on average sufficient electricity supply, she said the supply was not balanced between the east and west coasts.
To overcome this problem, the government will upgrade the electricity connections in Sabah with six projects, costing some RM840 million, which are expected to be completed by 2022, Yeo added.
DAP: Why no feasibility study for RM4.5b Sabah gas pipeline?