8 theSun | FRIDAY OCTOBER 31 2008

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» Husna Yusop and Giam Say Khoon at the Dewan Rakyat yesterday

Copter deal sealed without physical evaluation

THE Eurocopter deal,
which has been put on hold
by the government, was
sealed without conducting
physical evaluation on the
helicopters, Deputy Defence
Minister Datuk Abu Seman
Yusop said yesterday.
No test flights were done
nor were there any factory
visits, he admitted in his
winding-up speech for the
2009 Budget.
The government made
the decision (not to have
physical evaluation) based
on three factors.
“First, there were
complete documentations
for the technical committee
to make its assessment,” said
Abu Seman.
“Second, the Royal
Malaysian Air Force (RMAF)
had enough data about
helicopters in the market.
DEPUTY DEFENCE MINISTER DATUK ABU SEMAN YUSOP EXPLAINS WHY
“And finally, it was also to
guarantee the integrity of the
six-man technical committee
so that it won’t be questioned
by anyone.” He stressed that
the committee should not
have any interaction with
the tenderer.
However, the Opposition
MPs could not accept
such an explanation with
its leader Datuk Seri
Anwar Ibrahim (PKR-
Permatang Pauh) saying
it was impossible for such
sophisticated equipment to
be purchased without any
physical evaluation.
“This is ridiculous. …
Please don’t get offended
but in my eight years’
experience in the finance
ministry, there has never
been such a case. If it
actually happened, this
is a new world record of
Malaysia Boleh,” he said.
M. Manogaran (DAP-
Teluk Intan) said: “I am
shocked! Even when we buy
a Kancil, we would inspect it
physically first. I would like
to know who are these six
officers in the committee?
What is their expertise?”
Abu Seman said the
committee had prepared
specific guidelines to be
fulfilled and what is more
important is to ensure the
manufacturers had built
the aircraft according to the
required specifications.
“What is important is
the preliminary and final
acceptance tests which would
assess the helicopters later.
... In terms of safety, it is
not fair for you to accuse as
though we are not sensitive to
people’s lives,” he said.
Fed-up with the
Opposition comments,
Datuk Tajudin Abdul
Rahman (BN-Pasir Salak)
interjected, saying since the
government has decided to
postpone the purchase, there
is no need to discuss it in
detail. “It will be overtaken
by events. This is just
academic. Later, during the
delivery, you don’t expect
the government to simply
accept them. We can test
them first. If they are not
according to specs, not
reliable or defective, we can
reject them,” he said while
urging Abu Seman to move
to another topic.
Earlier, during the
debates, Lim Kit Siang
(DAP-Ipoh Timur) and
Anwar had questioned the
“discrepancies” in the offer
price made by Eurocopter
for the 12 EC 725 Cougar
helicopters. Defence
Ministry secretary-general
Datuk Abu Bakar Abdullah
had stated that the price
was RM1.1 billion while
Abu Seman had said it was
RM1.604 billion.
Lim also noted Prime
Minister Datuk Seri
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
had said the price was
RM1.67 billion.
To this, Abu Seman
said the RM1.604 billion
had included the offset
and technical support
package. Foreign exchange
fluctuations also factored in
the differences in figure.
However, Lim argued
that according to the tender,
the bids will be evaluated on
the foreign exchange rate on
the closing date of the bid,
therefore there should not be
any discrepancies. To this,
Abu Seman said: “The price
was €323.7 million. That is
the official figure. You can
say what you want.”
On another matter,
he clarified that the deal
had not involved any
commission paid out by the
supplier or the government
to any quarters.

PM apologises for wrong figure

PRIME Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi yesterday apologised
for the wrong price of the 12 Eurocop-
ter Cougar helicopters announced on
Tuesday.
“I made a statement that the
figure was RM1.67 billion and I
said we can round up the figure to
RM1.7 billion. It was a mistake and I
apologise for that,” he told reporters
when asked to clarify on the differ-
ent amount of money announced by
Deputy Defence Minister Datuk Abu
Seman Yusop that the amount was
only RM1.607 billion at the parliament
yesterday.
Abdullah, who is also defence
minister, said he was only informed by
the ministry the cost was RM1.6 billion
and the initial figure was incorrect.
Correction
WITH reference to our report yes-
terday headlined “MP: Conduct due
diligence on Khazanah”, we wish
to clarify that Chua Tee Yong (BN-
Labis) had asked the government
to conduct immediate survey and
The weekly Parliament round-up will appear on Monday
“Anyway, this is academic. When
we decide later on to (resume)
negotiate on the purchase of the
helicopters, we will see what the
price will be as it is quite technical
and academic to argue on the price
at the moment especially as a deci-
sion has been made to postpone the
purchase,” he explained.
Asked if the price will change when
negotiations resume, he said he would
not know and “whatever it is, we will
still negotiate (for the best price)”.
On the dissatisfaction of the
Opposition that the deal was done
without any physical examination on
the helicopter, Deputy Prime Minister
Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak, who
was the defence minister before
exchanging portfolios with Abdullah,
due diligence on Silterra Sdn Bhd,
not on Khazanah Nasional Bhd, as
we had erroneously reported.
For the record, Silterra is
majority-owned by government’s
investment arm Khazanah which
has invested RM5.14 billion in the
company since 1995.
said the Cougar helicopter is a proven
aircraft as it is already in service, used
by a few nations including France and
seen in combat in Afghanistan.
“Our pilots have tried the helicop-
ter during the Lima Maritime Series of
Exhibition so they know its perform-
ance. Before we confirm the deal,
we can go for pre-delivery inspection
during which the helicopters will be
thoroughly examined.
“It is not an experimental helicop-
ter but combat-tested,” he added.
After chairing the palm oil com-
petitiveness committee meeting
yesterday, Abdullah also announced
all government vehicles will start using
the methyl ester biodiesel developed
from palm oil in February to mix with
diesel as fuel.
It was Silterra which has not
given out dividends and generate
income since inception and Chua
had asked the government to
determine whether it should
be allowed to continue with its
current business or not. The error
is regretted.
Finance Ministry sec-gen
fails to turn up at inquiry
THE Public Accounts Committee’s
second and final day of inquiry into the
proposed Eurocopter purchase was
postponed to Monday because Finance
Ministry secretary-general Tan Sri Dr
Wan Abdul Aziz Wan Abdullah failed to
turn up to testify.
Said PAC chairman Datuk Seri Azmi
Khalid: “We are not convinced with the
reason given by the secretary-general
although we received a notice today
that he was busy with other ministerial
work and that he was unable to attend
the meeting.
“This is a high profile case and we
need high-ranking officers to seriously
explain to us (the deal).
“If he (Wan Abdul Aziz) needs as-
sistance from his officers, he can bring
anyone he wants,” Azmi told reporters
at the Parliament lobby, after the com-
mittee had met for under an hour.
The PAC is scrutinising the proposed
purchase of 12 Eurocopter EC725
Cougar helicopters to replace the Nuri
aircraft.
Azmi said the technical committee of
the defence ministry will be summoned
again on Monday because there are still
some questions to be answered.
“We will meet the technical com-
mittee in the morning and the finance
ministry’s secretary-general in the
afternoon,” he said. Asked if Wan Abdul
Aziz has guaranteed that he will come
on Monday, Azmi said: “We hope he will
make it.”
On whether the committee will
also summon the ministers of the two
ministries respectively – Prime Minister
Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and
his deputy Datuk Seri Najib Razak – Azmi
said there was no need for them to at-
tend the PAC meeting at the moment.
Although the RM1.679 billion deal
was suspended on Tuesday, Azmi
said after a meeting with the defence
ministry on Wednesday that as far as
technicalities are concerned, the deal
was conducted professionally.