Leong said the government was duty-bound to reveal the PPAs and the long-term gas supply agreements between national oil firm Petronas and the IPPs, as it was the government's job to protect the interests of the people when these are threatened by private companies.
“Public interest prevails over the commercial interests of the private parties (under the PPA),” he told a press conference at PKR headquarters in Petaling Jaya.
Earlier this week, Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Peter Chin said the government had no power to make the PPAs public as the agreements were contracts signed between the government and private entities.
"The power of the government to enter into contracts (with the IPPs) is derived from the people. The government is the trustee and servant of the people.
"Today, people are being asked to pay a higher tariff, so the people are entitled to know why the government entered a sweetheart deal with IPPs...
"The government should protect the people, not the IPPs."
Don't burden the consumers
Leong said it was important for the people to know the contents of the IPPs so they could determine for themselves if they were getting a fair deal.
"If it (the PPA) is a sweetheart deal, then we have to go after the sweethearts, because this tariff hike is a bitter pill for the people to swallow," Leong said.
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