Claims that the National Air Traffic Control Centre (NATCC) is equipped with a faulty air traffic control system have been dismissed by the Transport Ministry, which adds that the recently-installed mechanism is working fine.

In a written reply dated yesterday, Transport Minister Kong Cho Ha said the Human Machine Interface (HMI) is “performing well” and that “there has not been any incident until now”.

NONE Lembah Pantai PKR MP Nurul Izzah Anwar had asked on the status of the upgrade last December and whether it was congruous with international standards.

“There has not been any incident with the system. The overall cost of the HMI was 26.05 million euros (RM128.4 million),” Kong said.

“The system which was supplied by the contractor fulfils the standards and practices recommended by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and it is working fine,” he added in the reply.

Nurul Izzah claimed last week that the system supplied by Advanced Air Traffic System (M) Sdn Bhd (AAT) had been defective upon installation on Dec 13.

According to the MP, the documents in her possession revealed that HMI was “unstable with substantial weaknesses”.

NONE She also said that NATCC’s director had sent out a memo to “all traffic controllers, in particular highlighting the inconsistency in cleared flight level”.

Among the documents she distributed to the media on June 8 was a letter dated Jan 4, containing the signatures of 11 people, including NATCC’s deputy director of air traffic control.

The letter is addressed to their director, complaining that efforts to rectify the problems up to then were “very disappointing”, and air traffic controllers had been advised to be cautious.

The purported problems with the system installed, which was awarded to AAT through closed negotiations, puts at risk flight safety, she had further said.

Despite repeated attempts to verify the claims with the contractors and NATCC, Malaysiakini has yet to receive a response.