Former transport minister Ong Tee Keat said he was surprised by the conspicuous absence of a "high-powered inter-ministry" committee to handle the search for the missing flight MH370.

 

In a press release today, Ong ( left ) said handling the crisis involved coordination from multiple government agencies and multiple ministries - the Transport Ministry, Communications Ministry, Foreign Affairs Ministry, Defence Ministry, Home Ministry and Prime Minister's Department.

 

He warned that the management of this crisis must be handled in a coordinated manner because Malaysia's bureaucratic competence and capabilities are being scrutinised internationally.

 

"Nonetheless, we remained bewildered by the contradicting statements from our officials. Many people over the world might wonder how many imposters had indeed boarded the plane in the end.

 

"Was it four or two? Who can give the correct answers? Why was it answered by the director-general of civil aviation, who has no purview over such matters?

 

"Now that it has been made known the passengers who boarded the plane with passports (of Caucasians from Europe) were Iranians, after contradicting statements from two ministers. How could this have happened or been missed?" asked Ong.

 

Soul searching needed

 

In view of this, Ong said an internal inquiry on the immigration department was "absolutely necessary".

 

"(This is not) solely to resolve the riddles but more importantly to trigger our soul searching over such talk as KPIs, competence and graft-busting.

 

"I was given to understand that there are those out there who know it is quite easy through clandestine or nefarious means to slip through the system.

 

"Now such complacency has been highlighted – whether or not the stolen passports has anything to do with the disappearance of MH370," said Ong, who is best known for initiating a high level probe on the Port Klang Free Zone scandal.

 

Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein ( r ight ) has recently issued statements that were proven erroneous in a matter of hours by their subordinates.

 

Currently, the Civil Aviation Department director-general Azharuddin Abdul Rahman is the commander-in-chief of a multi-agency effort to locate the aircraft.

 

The aircraft went missing on Saturday morning shortly after entering Vietnamese airspace while en route to Beijing from KLIA.

 

Thus far, 11 nations are involved in what is likely the biggest search and rescue operation in history. Thus far, no trace of the aircraft has been found.