Govt.cleared of abuse of power in Eurocopter deal

The Public Accounts Committe has cleared the government of any abuse of power in the RM1.604 billion Eurocopter helicopter deal.
It will howevwer, continue to monitor the deal, even though the purchase of the 12 helicopters had been deffered by the government.
PAC chairman Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid said the committe did not find any prosedural abuse in the financial and technical aspects of the tender.
They were satisfied that the deal was done in accordance with procedures. The tender process was done properly and according to international standards.In their evaluation, they find that there was no abuse of power.
Azmi said members of the committe has suggested that the deal be monitored in the future as it was a high-profile matter.
He did not not discount the possibility of looking into the deal until the helicopters were handed over to the government, if the deal went through.
He said the only aspect of the deal that the committe was unhappy with was that there was no physical evaluation before the purchase.
As a result, it ecommended that an independent review panel be set up to look into all large government procurrements in the future. This would promote transparency and avoid wasting publis funds, he added.
Another matter that the committe failed to achieve was determining the correct price of the helicopters. Azmi said the quantum of each bid was fixed, with the committee only evaluating what was stated in the bids.
" We are not in a position to say whether the purchase was more expensive(than it should have been) as each country's miitary requirements are different."
He said of the seven bidders, three were shortlisted with bids of RM1.262 billion, RM1.604 billion and RM 2.442 billion respectively.
He said the RM1.604 bid by Eurocopter was selected as it fulfilled the requirements set by the Defence Ministry.
He said the lowest bid was not selected as it did not meet the requirements.
On a statement bu Lim Kit Siang(DAP-Ipoh Timur) that the Nuri helicopters could be used for another 20 years, Azmi said the Nuris had disadvantages compared with the newer Eurocopters.
The Nuris cannot be used for night flights besides being unable to remain airborne on a autopilot mode during rescure operations. These shortages can be overcome by using newer helicopters. It will cost more for the Nuris to be upgraded.
Lim said he had received an email from a former Nuri pilot who stated the Nuris could b used for another 20 years.