“I call on the cabinet to take a definitive decision at its Friday meeting that the Letter of Intent awarded to Eurocopter is suspended until the outcome of the scrutiny of the PAC (Public Accounts Committee) on the helicopter deal,” said DAP leader Lim Kit Siang.
According to Lim, PAC has decided last Wednesday to scrutinise the three “mega-scandals” highlighted by the opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalition in the 2009 budget debate.
- the RM5 billion Maybank purchase of Bank International Indonesia at five times the book value
- the RM2.3 billion defence deal for 12 Cougar EC725 helicopter
- the awarding of the RM11.3 billion high-speed broadband contract to TM Bhd
Lim described Defence Ministry secretary-general Abu Bakar Abdullah’s statement last Friday claiming that the decision to procure the Eurocopters had followed proper procedure as “unsatisfactory”.
“No satisfactory answer had been given to queries as to why the full technical evaluation process had not followed standard international practices and lacked transparency,” said Lim in a statement today.
Lim, who is Ipoh Timor parliamentarian, said that “all information and data must be presented to the PAC for its scrutiny, including the outcome of the respective technical, offset and price evaluations for each tender bid”.
He said representives from each of the seven tender bidders should be invited to appear before the committee “as only they will know how the tender process had disadvantaged or sidelined their aircraft”.
The committee is headed by former home minister Azmi Khalid (Umno-Padang Besar) with Dr Tan Seng Giaw (DAP-Kepong) as deputy chairperson.
“In its scrutiny, the PAC should have the benefit of independent expert advice and not be totally dependent on the Defence Ministry or Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF),” added Lim.
“Parliament should empower PAC to engage consultants who is knowledgeable in the aviation field especially the helicopter industry and profession.”
Why Brazil can get a better deal?
Lim said that the committee should also investigate the way the “tender team has carried out the selection and check the scoring system to ensure there is no partiality in the grading”.
“Of particular interest to the PAC is the price differential in the Eurocopter deal by Malaysia as compared to Brazil, which is acquiring 50 ‘Super Cougar’ units from Eurocopter at a price consideration of US$1.2 billion, of which the first unit will be delivered in 2010, giving an average unit price of RM84 million as compared to the average unit price of RM193 million for the RMAF’s 12 Cougar EC725 helicopters.”
The Eurocopter controversy was first highlighted in a letter dated October 7 addressed to former defence minister Najib Abdul Razak, who is also deputy prime minister and finance minister.
In the five-page letter, Mentari Services Sdn Bhd chairperson Capt (rtd) Zahar Hashim suggested that the tender process, initiated during Najib’s tenure, could have been a “gimmick” since the ministry appeared to favour one company.
Zahar also accused Najib of providing Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who took over the defence portfolio on September 17, with an “inaccurate” report pertaining to the contract.
He said the government could have purchased the same number of helicopters from Kelowna, the firm he represents, and save almost RM1.5 billion.-Malaysiakini
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