IS the RM35 million that the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry paid for a light twin-engined aerial surveillance aircraft for use by the Sarawak Forestry Department too steep?

PKR’s Batu Lintang assemblyman, See Chee How, believes that it is “excessive”. He lodged a police report on the matter today, and asked that a probe be conducted to determine whether there were “criminal elements” in the purchase of the Diamond DA42M-NG four-seater, propeller-driven aircraft manufactured by Austrian company Diamond Aircraft Industries.

The aircraft is for aerial surveillance, particularly to detect illegal logging, and also to map Sarawak’s jungle areas.

The vastness of such areas, as well as perpetrators’ cunning methods to avoid detection, make efforts to eradicate illegal logging highly challenging.

“Are there middlemen involved, causing an inflation of the purchase price?” said See.

In the report, lodged at the Simpang Tiga one-stop centre, See said based on his research, the price range for the standard DA42 (Twin Star) to the ultimate special-mission model, DA42 MPP Guardian, is between RM3 million and RM6.5 million.

The MPP designation of the Guardian model denotes it is a multi-purpose platform variant designed to carry out aerial sensing, mapping and surveillance, meeting the Forestry Department’s specifications.

“It appears that the government paid an excessive sum for this light twin-engined utility aircraft, albeit a special-mission variant,” said See.

He urged the national and state Audit Departments to look into the purchase.

“It could not be worth RM35 million. We bought it too dearly.

“I do not know whether the national and state Audit Departments have audited the purchase, and I do not know whether the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission has noticed the newspaper reports (on the purchase) and opened a file on it.”

He said he will go to the MACC office on Monday to enquire. If MACC has not opened a file on the purchase, he said, he will lodge a complaint to facilitate investigations.

It was reported that the aircraft has received the airworthiness and flight certifications from the Malaysian Aviation Commission, and its delivery to the Forestry Department is said to be imminent.

Bought under the 11th Malaysia Plan, the aircraft is set to be stationed at the Kuching international airport. – June 9, 2018.