Minister defends ex-Chief Secretary’s son-in-law over solar deal
Ida Lim, The Malaysian Insider
A minister today defended the lucrative solar power contracts by companies linked to Todd Morath, the son-in-law of the former Chief Secretary to the Government, saying that the deals were awarded through a “fair bidding process”.
In July, the DAP’s Tony Pua and PKR’s Nurul Izzah Anwar had pointed out that Morath, his wife Suzi Suliana Mohd Sidek, and two business partners control 12 out of 32 companies that had won the “lion’s share” or 32.4 per cent of the nation’s solar energy quota.
Suzi’s father, Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan, was appointed the new Petronas chairman after his retirement in June from his post as Chief Secretary to the Government.
“But I want to underline the companies owned by Mr Todd, he used the method of bidding online, not he wants to see me, (not) me who gave him… he did online bidding like other people and other companies,” Datuk Seri Peter Chin, the minister of energy, green technology and water, said in Parliament.
“Because of that, how can I blame him because he is the son-in-law of the former KSN (Chief Secretary)? Cannot,” the Miri MP said.
“This is a fair bidding process, because it’s fair, he won, he got it. I didn’t interfere. CEO of SEDA (Sustainable Energy Development Authority) didn’t interfere,” he said.
“Don’t accuse with facts that are not true…” he added.
Chin was replying to a supplementary question by Fuziah Salleh (PKR-Kuantan) during Question Time in Parliament.
