Construction of Paloh army camp began before deal inked - report
PARLIAMENT | The developer of the controversial Paloh army camp was instructed to purchase the land and begin construction even before an agreement was inked, according to a summary report on Defence Ministry land swaps.
The final report of the Governance, Procurement and Finance Investigating Committee's probe into the ministry, which was tabled in the Dewan Negara today, also implicated an aide to the then-defence minister...
PARLIAMENT | The developer of the controversial Paloh army camp was instructed to purchase the land and begin construction even before an agreement was inked, according to a summary report on Defence Ministry land swaps.
The final report of the Governance, Procurement and Finance Investigating Committee's probe into the ministry, which was tabled in the Dewan Negara today, also implicates an aide to the then-defence minister.
"In the Paloh camp, a memorandum from the political secretary of the (then) defence minister clearly stated that priority must be given to the construction of the camp for political interests in the Sembrong parliamentary constituency.
"This resulted in an instruction letter issued to the company (developer) to purchase the land and begin construction without any contract being signed," read the report.
Sembrong MP Hishammuddin Hussein is the former defence minister.
Earlier, Hishammuddin's successor Mohamad Sabu sarcastically praised the "efficiency" of the construction when tabling the report.
"Although the contract was not inked, the previous administration had instructed the company to acquire the land," the minister said, adding that it claimed to have spent RM85 million on construction.
"The (previous) government risked suffering a loss (in the constituency) if the construction could not continue."
According to the report, the Paloh army camp was an ad hoc plan which was not part of the reconstruction of the 94-acre Taman Kinrara camp and meant to replace the dilapidated army camp in Rasah.
"Only offices and bachelor accommodation were to be built (at Paloh forcing) the married officers and soldiers to reside in the surrounding areas or at the Mahkota camp," said the report.
The contract for the Paloh camp was only inked on May 8, 2018, on the eve of GE14.
Johor DAP first raised concerns about the Paloh army camp in 2017, claiming that it was being built for political purposes.
Beside Paloh, the summary report also concluded that army camps in Bera, Segamat, and Hutan Melintang were built with the intention of moving in army voters ahead of the 14th general election.
"The appearance of EC officers in these camps showed that the construction was of the political interest instead of military strategy to the members of the administration who strategised to win the polls," read the report further.
EC officials were reportedly complicit in aiding the Defence Ministry in the transfer of military voters to camps built in Bera (Pahang), Segamat (Johor), Paloh (Johor) and Hutan Melintang (Perak) in time for them to be eligible to vote in GE14.
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