Betrayed and Befuddled

ARCHIVES 2010

By admin-s On Jan 3, 2010

It seems that certain quarters regard the rakyat to be quite clueless when it comes to putting two and two together. The latest report on the stolen jet engines issue in The Malaysian Insider at THIS LINK revealed a few startling facts:

By Masterwordsmith

The Attorney-General is now the sole authority in the case with the authority to comment on the matter now.

The probe is entirely in the hands of the police and they have submitted their investigation papers to the A-G for further legal action.

Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hasan also confirmed that only two jet engines had gone missing and not four as mentioned in news reports that quoted sources. He urge all quarters not to speculate on the matter.

He has also said three low-ranking airmen and a company agent were the only ones involved in the theft.

Gani had said that he viewed the theft as a “serious matter” and promised to launch a thorough probe.

I am seriously befuddled by the many statements and actions of certain quarters. Surely, the RMAF does not expect us to believe that the scam or theft only involves THREE LOW-RANKING AIRMEN AND A COMPANY AGENT?

A few issues to consider:

1. How is it possible that such low-ranking personnel had the resources to remove each of the 200kg jet plane engines out of the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) base, send them to Port Klang and then ship them to a third country. (The jet engines are said to have ended up in Argentina.) One would need a crane to do the job and a heavy-duty trailer/lorry to transport them on the road. How was it possible that all this went UNNOTICED by personnel on duty when it happened?

2. How is it possible that THREE LOW-RANKING AIRMEN AND A COMPANY AGENT were able to plan the entire logistics of finding a buyer for the two engines, stealing the engines and shipping them off in such an inconspicuous manner that it was undetected and then unreported and when it was discovered, met with a hushed reaction from certain quarters?

3. Can it be that these fabulous THREE LOW-RANKING AIRMEN AND A COMPANY AGENT had such extensive knowledge of the functions of the jet engines to succeed in their plan?

4. Assuming that indeed these THREE LOW-RANKING AIRMEN AND A COMPANY AGENT were the real culprits, surely some heads of high-ranking officials should roll for allowing this fiasco to take place. Or are the low-ranking officers mere scapegoats to absolve the real culprits of their irresponsible acts?

5. The fact remains that if indeed the crime is the work of some small-time thieves as the RMAF would have us to believe, a serious breach of security has taken place and seemingly with ridiculous ease as explained earlier.

6. The theft took place in 2007. An audit revealed the loss in 2008, and the public only knew about it at the end of 2009. Reports reveal that a police report was also only made very much later although the theft took place two years earlier. Does this suggest an urgency on the part of the RMAF to get to the bottom of the crime or does it tell us another message?