BERSATU Youth chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal has a bone to pick with Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook by linking the latest and fifth incident of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) plane having to turn back to the latter consenting SIA Engineering Company (SIA EC) to operate at the Sultan Abdul Aziz Airport in Subang.
This, according to the Machang MP, has led to “incessant poaching of MAS’ technical staff who carry out MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) work”.
“Anthony Loke should defend MAS first by putting strict conditions on SIA EC!” he hit out at the Seremban MP who is also the DAP secretary-general in a recent Facebook post.
“Is Anthony Loke then a Malaysian or Singaporean Transport Minister to Singapore? Try to answer this.”
On Sept 2, Flightradar24 revealed that MAS’ Flight MH66 bound for Seoul, South Korea, was diverted back to Kuala Lumpur even after incurring a delay in take-off (departed only at 12.01am from its original schedule of 11.30pm).
It was reported that on Dec 20 last year, Base Maintenance Malaysia which is a wholly owned subsidiary of SIA EC had sealed an agreement with Impeccable Vintage Properties to lease two hangars within Complex A of the Subang Airport.
IVP is a wholly owned subsidiary of Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd. Under the lease, SIA EC can use the hangar facilities for 15 years with an option to renew the lease for another 15 years.
In the video accompanying his post, Wan Fayhsal pointed out that although it was the previous the Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s Cabiney which approved the SIA EC’s operations in April 2022, the final deal was sealed during by the current Madani administration.
“Once the government changed, the final conclusion of the agreement was done by the Madani government, notably by Loke and not his predecessor Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong,” justified. Wan Fayhsal who was then serving as the National Unity deputy minister.
On Tuesday (Sept 10), Bersatu Youth had wanted the Dewan Rakyat’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to investigate the Transport Ministry (MOT), Khazanah Nasional and the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) for what it alleged as “problems in corporate governance and ministries that have tarnished Malaysia’s good name, especially in the transport and logistics sector”.
“We urged PAC to conduct a forensic study to determine whether elements of sabotage exist in the SIA EC investment transaction involving Khazanah Nasional,” highlighted Bersatu Youth in a media statement in conjunction with the Malaysia Day celebration on Monday (Sept 16).
“A probe into MOT is also nevessary considering the increasingly harmful operational effects on MAS’ ability to play its role as a national carrier.” – Sept 14, 2024
