Defence ministry never appoints agents for purchases, says deputy minister

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 21 — The Ministry of Defence (Mindef) never appointed third-party agents for its purchases, its deputy minister Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad said today.

He said that all of Mindef's assets were procured through direct deals with governments of other countries.

“We never appoint any third-party in any asset procurement whether it is submarines, 8 x 8, or Sukhoi, all is through G to G (government-to-government),” Abdul Latiff said in his winding-up speech today.

"In Malaysia's history, we have never appointed agents for our procurements," he said.

Mindef has often been questioned for its procurements that are said to greatly exceed the prices paid by other countries for similar purchases.

But the ministry has defended a few of its purchases, saying it paid a higher price due to different specifications.

In September, DAP’s Tony Pua had called for Putrajaya to set up an independent committee in Parliament to investigate Mindef’s “controversial” contracts to buy defence vehicles.

His statement came after the Sultan of Johor appeared to rap Mindef for its recent purchase of four Rapid Intervention Vehicles (RIV) for a total of RM2.76 million or RM690,000 each, while the state ruler had reportedly bought one priced at RM150,000.

“The above acquisition follows a series of controversial procurement of defence vehicles by the Ministry of Defence that have raised major question marks over whether the taxpayers are getting value for their money,” Pua had said.

Pua said that such deals must be “investigated and scrutinised not (by) the Ministry of Defence itself, but by an independent Parliamentary Oversight Committee.”

He had listed a few “controversial” contracts, including Mindef’s purchase of 12 helicopters for RM2.3 billion, or RM193 million each, in 2008 “despite the same model helicopter being acquired for only RM82.8million each by the Brazilian government.”

Mindef had told the Parliamentary Accounts Committee (PAC) that the higher cost was due to “customisations” to the helicopters.

A RM6 billion contract given to Boustead Naval Shipyard last year for six offshore patrol vessels was “subsequently inflated” to RM9 billion, said Pua.

DRB Hicom Bhd had last year received a RM7.55 billion contract for 257 units of 8x8 Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC), but it was “exposed” that the company was buying them from a Turkish defence contractor for RM1.7 billion, said the PAC member.

Pua said it was “beyond reasonable belief” that “customisations” carried out by DRB-Hicom to the APS would “cause the bill to be inflated from RM1.7billion to RM7.55 billion.”