FORMER defence minister Hishammuddin Hussein said that the authorities are free to investigate allegations concerning his former aides involved in the armed forces land swap deals that racked up RM500 million in losses.

“Those responsible will have to face justice,” he said at the Parliament lobby today.

“I have been consistent with this. No one is above the law,” he said.

Hishammuddin was commenting on a report by The Malaysian Insight which quoted Deputy Defence Minister Liew Chin Tong who said the losses were discovered by the Special Investigations Committee (SIC) chaired by former auditor-general Ambrin Buang.

Liew said that the report named officers attached to Hishammuddin at the time who were linked with the deals.

He was referring to the findings of a special committee that had reported losses 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.

He said that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission has received the report.

Hishammuddin told the deputy minister to let the relevant agencies handle the investigation, and advised him to focus on the ministry’s work.

“If he (Liew) wants to accuse us, work in the ministry must go on, questions in Parliament must be answered,” he said.

He said that the ministry has to answer about the Abu Sayyaf targeting kidnap victims in Sabah’s east coast.

“This needs to be handled. What are their plans to handle it? We can’t do this alone. What happened to the trilateral partnership between the Philippines and Indonesia?” he asked.

He said that these allegations are just the ministry’s way of detracting from the real issues of the country.

“Lead the country and show leadership. The security of the country is very important,” he said. – March 12, 2019.