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Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Zahid ticks off Zaid for RM6bil patrol vessels comment

Zahid ticks off Zaid for RM6bil patrol vessels comment

Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi ticked off his ex-Cabinet and UMNO colleague Zaid Ibrahim for shooting his mouth off over alleged spiralling costs in the ministry's acquisition of 6 off-shore patrol vessels or OPVs.

“We have not agreed on a suitable price for the project or the main contractors involved or its sub-contractor to provide the systems for the OPVs. How could Zaid know about this when there is nothing concrete being worked out yet. It seems he knows more than us and there is no deal finalised," the defence minister told reporters on Tuesday.

Deflecting Bersih fallout from Najib?

A troubled politician, Zaid is the president of Kita, a minnow party believed to have links to Prime Minister Najib Razak after its application for approval to contest in elections was approved with lightning speed.

Zaid had today taken pot shots at the Pakatan Rakyat for overly focusing on the Bersih rally, arguing that it would do better to concerntrate on the defense ministry's spiralling OPVs costs.

He was seen as trying to deflect the mountain of negative publicity the Bersih rally has attracted for Najib onto other 'sensitive' areas in the BN government.

"We have always been concerned about the exorbitants costs of our arms acqusitions. The SUARAM lawyers are coming later this week to brief the public on the kickbacks paid and I have also been invited to speak on it," PKR vice president Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.

"As for the RM6 billion OPVs, Tony Pua has been working tirelessly on it. We don't intend to stop but why must Bersih come to a halt just for the OPVs? Is Zaid saying he can't multi-task or does he have some ulterior motive?"

RM6 to 10 billion

Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua was among the first to raise the alarm when Zahid first proposed the acquisition of 6 OPVs at RM6 billion or RM1 billion apiece. Tony had decried the high costs, citing the Royal New Zealand Navy's fleet which was similar but only cost NZ$90 million (RM210 million) each.

On Tuesday, Zahid had been asked by reporters to comment on Zaid's statement. The Kita president had alleged that the cost of the six OPVs may have escalated from RM6 billion to RM10 billion, citing a possibility of another Scorpene submarine scandal in the making.

"Our opposition politicians need not just focus their attention to rallying in the streets and peaceful protests. They must also get together to unearth such scandalous contracts that have been dished out," Zaid said in a statement posted on his party's website.

"We must not allow our country and our own security to be in jeopardy. And it is not just about the money and the frivolous spending. Our military forces, the navy and the air force, must be responsible for the decisions on the types of military hardware and software that we procure."

- Malaysia Chronicle

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