KUALA LUMPUR: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is urging the government to release a report regarding a contentious land swap deal by the Defence Ministry, according to PAC chairman Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin.
The report in question is the Public Governance, Procurement and Finance report.
“The PAC sent a letter about this matter on June 13, and we received a response from Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said on June 27.
In her letter, the minister mentioned that the matter will be evaluated by the Attorney General’s Chambers before any decision is made by the government,” she said.
However, even after three months, the government has not responded to the PAC with a decision, Mas Ermieyati stated.
Therefore, the PAC is calling on the government to expedite the declassification of the report as it was already presented to the PAC of the 14th Parliament on April 2, 2019, and Nov 16, 2020.
“This will allow the PAC to review the matter as the government incurred RM500mil in losses in addition to the impact on its strategic defense position,” she said.
She further mentioned that once the report is declassified, the PAC will proceed with investigations on the land swap deal.
The land swap deal was initiated in 2012 and involved a 38.04ha army camp in Kinrara, Selangor, the construction of an air force facility in Sendayan, and the construction of an army camp in Port Dickson, both in Negri Sembilan.
Nevertheless, in 2016, the proposal to build an army camp in Port Dickson was replaced with the plan to establish the Paloh camp.
In 2020, the then PAC chairman Wong Kah Woh revealed that the issue was brought to the committee’s attention following a briefing by the special investigation committee that examined the report, after investigating 16 land swap cases that involved 1,183ha of government land valued at RM4.8bil.
He pointed out that the PAC was informed that one of the problems that emerged from the land swap was related to government losses resulting from inconsistent methods used to determine land value, as well as political considerations that surpassed defense interests.
Meanwhile, Mas Ermieyati stated that the PAC will present the progress report on the littoral combat ship (LCS) project during the first week of the October meeting of the Dewan Rakyat (House of Representatives).
She mentioned that the committee has finalized the report on the progress of the embattled project, covering the period from October of last year to May of this year.
In its report tabled on Aug 4 last year, the PAC recommended that the Defence Ministry provide quarterly updates on the status of the combat ships.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim stated on May 27 that the project had to be completed as RM6bil had already been spent on it.
Additionally, the Finance Ministry has taken over the responsibility for the project’s management company, Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNS), through a special-purpose vehicle (SPV).
Regarding another matter, the PAC will initiate an investigation into the Human Resource Development Corp, as stated by Mas Ermieyati.
However, it is unclear what prompted the probe into the agency.
She also mentioned that the specific focus of the investigation on the agency, previously known as Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF), will be determined at a later time.
Credit: The Star : News Feed
