FORMER defence minister Hishammuddin Hussein’s aides were involved in the armed forces land swap deals which caused losses amounting to RM500 million to the ministry, said Liew Chin Tong.
The deputy defence minister said this was discovered by the Special Investigations Committee (SIC) chaired by former auditor-general Ambrin Buang.
“The report names the officers who were attached to Hishammuddin at the time as being linked with the deals.
“The (then) minister’s personal officers were implicated (in the deals). The report has been sent to MACC,” he told The Malaysian Insight in a recent interview.
He was referring to the findings of a special committee which had reported that losses were incurred by the Defence Ministry in 16 land swap projects since 1997. These included the building of four military camps for political purposes, including one in Paloh which falls under the Sembrong constituency held by Hishammuddin.
The committee was set up by the Pakatan Harapan administration to look into the procurement and administrative procedures of the previous government.
Following the findings of the comamittee, Hishammuddin had said he had nothing to hide.
Liew, meanwhile, said the land swap deals were done solely for Barisan Nasional’s political interest and not for strategic military purposes.
“The two clear cases are the Paloh camp, which is in Hishamudddin’s constituency in Johor and the Hutan Melintang camp in Bagan Datuk, which is Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s constituency.”
He said two other camps were built in Segamat, Johor and Bera in Pahang. The then MP for Segamat was former MIC president and health minister Dr S. Subramaniam while Umno leader Ismail Sabri Yaakob is the MP for Bera.
“These four camps were constructed purely on the basis for political purposes. They were built in marginal seats in order to strengthen the position of BN in those areas.
“Paloh was the only camp for which they could not shift in the voters in time,” Liew said.
He said that the move (to relocate the bases) was bad for the nation because the previous government had viewed the camps as vote banks and built military facilities not for strategic defensive purposes.
“This shall never be repeated and we should do everything to prevent it.
“Those camps were not part of any military strategy. It was to strengthen the marginal seats. There was political interference to benefit selected political masters.”
Liew said that another issue to look at was the acts of developers in wanting the ministry’s land bank for commercial purposes.
“They (developers) wanted urban land in certain places and in order to get them, the armed forces had to be moved.
“The developers are the ones who proposed the land swaps. It was not because the military wanted to move.
“It’s because the land was in the middle of the city and was deemed a valuable land bank.”
He said as a result, the armed forces were forced to relocate to places close to the jungle.
“This was one of Ambrin’s main criticisms on the land swaps that happened over the years.”
He gave examples of how the old palace (now the Royal Museum along Jalan Istana) and the official residences of armed forces chief and the defence minister had been relocated as a result of land swaps.
He said the places were originally built to be close to the Sg Besi camp.
“When they planned it years ago, there was consideration that if there is an emergency, the Sg Besi air base can serve as an urban evacuation point.
“But today, because of 1Malaysia Development Bhd taking over the land, the military has been pushed to Sedayan in Seremban.”
the malaysian insight
Why waste time, he will escape charges and by the time BN Will come to power again.PH should do better things
ReplyDeleteVery true all the new military camps were built before PRU 14 is to meet political aim of the BN.
ReplyDeleteBe transparent and let the public know the real truth Malaysia Bolih
ReplyDeleteWhat to do, kissing cousins coming from the same dna
ReplyDeleteHaha
DeleteDon't waste time... charge him to court.
ReplyDeleteIt is really hurting to see that a group of public don't seem to be sensitive to these kind of scandals, abuse of power and flaws..results of the recent CH and Semenyih by-election results are the proof
ReplyDeleteIf the current government has enough proof of the wrong doing, by all means charge them and let all Malaysian aware about what went wrong with the previous government.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteCharge them and bring their cases to court sooner than later. And send them to prison. Let the people esp the rural folks what BN had been doing. If BN comes into power again, the people r done for. PH do it fast. No more talk.
ReplyDeleteGood do the right to charge thr culprits
ReplyDeleteLet them wear the orange uniform just like ordinary folks...don't b a chicken shit n b afraid of them like in d case of bro jib....
ReplyDeleteAction needs to be taken *ASAP* No more delays pls. Strike the Iron While it is Hot.
ReplyDeleteNothing surprise except that under PH, more past scandals should be exposed. And it should be exposed quickly to counteract the racial and religious politics played by those involved in cheating, corruptions, etc.
ReplyDeleteMalaysia is a Democratic State
ReplyDeleteDemocracy means Capitalist controlled.
Tun Mahathir is a Capitalism so do you think there will be changes.
If the Country becomes Socialist, then Poor and Middle Income group will Prosper otherwise these Two classes will have to Lo Class Beggars and Middle Class Beggars.
PH is a lame duck ! They ve been charging many BN ministers for their wrongdoings but what is d outcome ?
ReplyDeleteSadly the rural folks don't understand or don't bother about all these accusations and they totally believe only what is said by BN leaders
ReplyDeleteWithout any delay charge him in the court with all the evidence make sure don't let him escape nail him for good this will be a good lesson to others.
ReplyDeleteIf all these corrupt bn official s Were to return all the stolen money,
ReplyDeletemalaysia will be a very rich nation in asean.eddy