Jasbir's Scorpene the "best" deal for the nation shows how TRUTHFUL he is!

The architect of the Scorpene submarine purchase vehemently denied today the existence of elements of corruption in the controversial Scorpene deal.

Negative perspectives deliberately played by certain quarters on the issue of payment of RM452 million (115 million euros) as "commission" to Perimekar Sdn Bhd, was crushed by Jasbir Singh Chahl, who pointed out that the amount was meant for the company's service management fee.

In an exclusive interview with a local newspaper, Jasbir who spoke for the first time about the deal, said the company was in charge of the logistics and training of the officers and men of the Royal Malaysian Navy's Submarine Force.

According to the report, the fees covered project management and project integration services, coordinating the involvement of Malaysian companies in the industrial participation programme in the provision of services during the construction phase and to monitor the performance of these firms.

Perimekar Sdn Bhd is owned by the Armed Forces Fund, Boustead Holdings Sdn Bhd and K. S. Ombak Laut Sdn Bhd.

The fees were also for helping the main contractor comply with all local laws and procedures, relating to the execution of the contract, coordinating and monitoring the training of Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) personnel, in compliance with the main contract and in accordance with the Malaysian Government and RMN expectations, and providing monthly reports on all of the above.

The biggest chunk of the fees went to the provision of food and accommodation and all the necessary services for the training of RMN personnel and their families in Brest (France) and Spain for a period of six years, inclusive of health insurance premiums and per diem allowances of a minimum of 50 euro per person. Other costs include their return travel fares to Malaysia three times a year. In all, 145 RMN personnel, including 49 officers and dependants, were covered by this.

"We've been made out to look like profiteers who just sat back and collected when, in fact, there was a lot of hard, tangible work, that was done," said Jasbir.

He was also quoted as saying that the commercial offer was attractive because of the superior industrial participation programme that was put together.

"The counter-trade and offset programme that we proposed as part of the overall proposal also swung the odds in our favour," he said.

Jasbir said, based on the strength and commercial superiority of the proposal, "we did not have to lobby anyone to influence the commercial evaluation process as there was no need to.

"The Scorpene was the best non-nuclear powered-submarine that we, as a nation, could have selected," he added. – Bernama