WHO IS SYDNEY FRANKLIN?

Many may be wondering who is Sydney Franklin. But for those in the Defence Ministry, that name has been in circulation around the corridors of the ministry for quite a while, and is a popular figure especially among the top brasses in the ministry. He is full of generosity; readily making contributions for golfing events organised for the top brasses. He takes pride to be in the inner circle, and he feature regularly at weddings and functions hosted by the 'who's who' of the ministry.

Speculations are rife among local defence representatives, suppliers and contractors that Sydney Franklin, a British national is one of the favoured defence equipment 'middlemen' for the Defence Ministry. He is said to have been instrumental in securing several defence contracts through direct negotiations with the Defence Ministry over the last 5 yearsor so.

He operates an office from a penthouse located in a posh apartment at Jalan Pinang, Kuala Lumpur. His official business address is in London where he is a registered contractor for the UK Defence Ministry (www.franklin.co.uk).

The first known contract involving Sydney Franklin was for the supply of the Astros II Multi Launcher Rocket System (MLRS) for the army in 2002. The MLRS is a product of Avibras Industria Areospacial International Ltd of Brazil where a total of 18 launchers were supplied to the army at the costs of US207,764,155.00 (RM727,174,542.50 approximately). Sydney Franklin is said to have been the middlemen for this contract, concluded between the Defence Ministry and the equipment manufacturer.

In a speech by the Chief of Army at a parade to mark the 76th Army Day celebration on 1st March 2009, he announced that the army will be receiving its second consignment of 18 MLRS launchers scheduled to be in service by the end of the year, to complete the second MLRS regiment. The cost quoted by the Chief of Army was RM27 million (Star, March 2nd 2009) which is believed to be an error, as the figure is grossly different to the cost quoted in 2002 above. It is claimed that Sydney Franklin is once more a party to this contract, which was offered through direct negotiations. And anymore purchase of this same equipment will be a waste of public fund.

What is unusual about the purchase of the MLRS (and being questioned by many) is that the award for the maintenance of the system is believed to have been offered to Sydney Franklin. This deal certainly sound odd for a strategic purchase like this. Wouldn't it be proper for the maintenance job to be awarded to a Malaysian company; thus developing some local expertise in the maintenance of strategic weaponry? Little wonder that despite the millions spend on the purchase of assorted weapons over the last five decade, the country is yet to produce a simple weapon indigenously.

In 2007, the army acquired and was supplied with the VERA-E passive surveillance radar, a product of the Czech Republic. A similar product was also acquired by the People's Republic of China (PRC) earlier at the cost of US54.7 million for 10 systems (JDW 28 April 2004). It will be interesting to know how much was paid by our Defence Ministry, which many believe is many times more than what PRC had paid. Again, Sydney Franklin's role in this deal sticks like a sore thumb.

The question that need to be asked urgently is how many more defence deals will protray prominently Sydney Franklin as the middlemen? He has no official business representation in Malaysia, nor does he owns a registered company in Malaysia. Ironically, he is consistently involved in a direct negotiation deal with the Defence Ministry. How could this possibly happen right under the noses of our political masters, is indeed mind boggling. Are they that dumb and stupid not to notice the fallacy of awarding strategic defence contracts involving a foreigner without the participation of a local representative? This is a question that only our political masters and the power-that-be in the Defence Ministry (both civilan and military) could answer.

Recently, there was a talk about acquiring the Airborne Early Warning Aircraft (AEWAC) for the Armed Forces. Will Sydney Franklin again feature in this deal through the infamous direct negotiations?

Mohd ArshadRaji
Kajang