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 (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.
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.
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 the armed forces chief and the defence minister were designed to be close to Sungai Besi air base for easy evacuation. But now, the air base has been relocated as a result of land swaps.
“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.” – March 10, 2019.
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