Petronas 'must bare all'
Malaysiakini.com
Jun 16, 2008
Rahmah Ghazali 

A civil society group today described the government’s decision to reveal the accounts of national oil company Petronas - which has been a well-kept secret for over three decades - as “strange”.
MCPX

Aliran president P Ramakrishnan told Malaysiakini that various groups have demanded for Petronas to ‘bare all’ long before Rembau parliamentarian Khairy Jamaluddin made his call in Kota Kinabalu on Saturday.

nor mohamed yakcop second finance ministerFinance Minister II Nor Mohamed Yakcop has since responded to Khairy, saying that Petronas could open its ledgers to the public as soon as next week.

“Civil societies and opposition parties have made the call for Petronas to reveal its accounts a long time ago,” lamented Ramakrishnan.

Early this year, Aliran had urged Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to table Petronas accounts in Parliament to substantiate his claims that the government would go bankrupt if oil prices were reduced.

Ramakrishnan stressed that all Petronas’ accounts - from since the national oil company was established in 1974 to today - be made public.

“Malaysians have the right to know how our wealth has been spent since 1974 and not just this year, so that we know whether (the money) has been abused,” he said.

Khairy being 'opportunistic'

Meanwhile, PKR deputy president Syed Husin Ali suggested that Khairy was being “opportunistic” in calling for Petronas to come clean with its accounts.

khairy jamaluddin interview 011107 assuresKhairy, who is also Umno Youth deputy chief, has urged Petronas to make public details of its profits as well as its sources of revenue.

“He just took an opportunistic position knowing that (Dr) Mahathir (Mohamad) would have abused Petronas funds for mega-projects undertaken during his era,” he argued.    
    
Former premier Mahathir has been calling his handpicked successor Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who is Khairy’s father-in-law, to resign after BN unprecedented electoral setback in the March 8 general election.

pkr uuca meeting 110706 syed husin aliSyed Husin said that Petronas had funded some of the country’s mega-projects during Mahathir’s 22 years in power.       

The PKR leader also advised the government to amend the Petroleum Development Act 1974, in which it is stipulated that the national oil company is answerable only to the prime minister.

“It (Petronas) is currently not under the (jurisdiction) of parliament so they have to change the law first,” he told Malaysiakini.

Gerakan Youth backs transparency call

Meanwhile, the Gerakan Youth wing has echoed the call for more transparency in Petronas.

petronas mega projects and bail outs history 260208“Petronas is wholly owned by the government and the rakyat shall have the right to view the accounts,” said party youth chief  Mah Siew Keong.

He said by making Petronas accounts public will help answer “thousands of questions”.

“Since the fuel price hike, public are still feeling unhappy and skeptical towards government despite several positive moves been taken by the government including administration cost-cutting.

“With the Petronas account to be made public, rakyat will know the profits made by Petronas and they will know how these profits are being spent,” said Mah.

“Let us not give opportunity for the opposition to continue exploiting this issue politically.”

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