KUALA LUMPUR: While voters have been spooked by the prospect of bankruptcy if subsidies remain, the government however went on a RM8 billion shopping spree for two French submarines.
The disclosure was made by Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in a written reply to Batu PKR MP Tian Chua who asked how much it cost to procure the Scorpene submarines.
The first contract with French and Spanish manufacturers DNC and Navantia on the purchase of the two submarines including the Intergrated Logistic Support (ILS) was worth €970 million.
The second contract with Perimekar Sdn Bhd for coordination, support and training for the Royal Malaysian Navy submarine project in Cherborough and Brest in France and Cartagena, Spain, was worth €120 million.
Perimekar is allegedly owned by the wife of Abdul Razak Baginda, a close friend of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, who was tried and acquitted in the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaaribuu.
Altantuya was supposedly the interpreter in the deal and Najib was the defence minister then.
Discrepancy in figures
The government also signed a contract with DCN worth €37.5 million for support and test equipment while spending €300 million on SM-39 and Black Shark Heavyweight torpedoes which will be handed over in stages until 2013.
This does not include the six-year maintenance of the submarines which Tian Chua said would cost the government RM600 million, a figure quoted by DCN.
However, the Batu MP said the government quoted a different figure - maintenance fee would cost RM270 million a year.
"Why is there a difference here?" asked Tian Chua at a press conference in Parliament.
He also questioned the need to conduct the purchase in Euro currency which he claimed was 10 percent more if the transaction was made in ringgit.
"We spent close to RM8 billion on two submarines. And this is in the context of the government wanting to cut subsidies (on essential goods)," he said.
French more concerned
Meanwhile, PKR vice-president R Sivarasa said the French authorities have decided to probe DCN on the submarine deal with Malaysia together with another similar case in Pakistan.
It was reported that a French prosecution team had raided DCN's office recently in its effort to unravel the alleged scandal involving bribery and kickbacks worth hundreds of millions.
The Subang MP said the Malaysian government paled in comparison with the French government in terms of battling graft.
"It seems that the French are more concerned with Malaysian money than our government," he said.
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