THE final report on the armed forces land swap deals that caused RM500 million in losses to the government revealed that many camps were left empty after the general election.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the land parcels, bought through elaborate scams, were primarily used to bolster votes for the previous Barisan Nasional administration.

“We have received the final report (from the defence minister) on the investigation into the land swaps,” he told reporters after chairing the cabinet select committee on anti-corruption in Putrajaya today. 

He said the report found that the previous government had identified and sold land through illegal means, “just for the intent to build army camps”.

“The army camps were build specifically for the elections, so that during the elections, soldiers can vote (for the government) in certain places.

“This is wrong and against the law. We found many land swap cases where after the election, the camps are empty,” the prime minister said.

Deputy Defence Minister Liew Ching Tong had earlier told The Malaysian Insight that former defence minister Hishammuddin Hussein’s aides were involved in the armed forces land swap deals which caused losses amounting to RM500 million.

Liew said this was among 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, Johor, 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. – March 19, 2019.