M'sia says revealing black-box data more important than fighting over custody
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Finding out the truth about what happened to missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 is more important than who gets custody of the black box, Malaysia's acting Transport Minister Hishamuddin Hussein said yesterday, adding that any data eventually recovere
“It’s about finding the truth. And when we ... find out the truth, definitely we have to reveal what’s in the black box. So there is no question of it not being released,” Hishammuddin told reporters. Malaysia has been battling widespread criticism over the transparency of its investigation into the missing Malaysia Airlines flight.
It has been tight-lipped about its continuing investigation, adding to the anger and frustration of relatives of the 239 people aboard the ill-fated plane.
The Boeing 777 vanished on March 8 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing and is now believed to have crashed in the Indian Ocean, where an Australian-led effort is underway to recover its flight data and cockpit voice recorders.
Malaysia’s government has come under fire for a seemingly chaotic initial response, while the scarcity of official information on MH370 has prompted questions about its transparency.
Hishammuddin said at the weekend that Malaysia’s attorney general had gone overseas to confer with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and determine which country will have custody of the plane’s black box, if it is ever found.
Opposition politicians have repeatedly called for more transparency on MH370 investigations, complaining that the ruling Barisan Nasional (National Front) coalition has declined to share information with its foes.
Corruption-prone Barisan has a history of sweeping scandals or other politically embarrassing information under the rug.
A survey released on Monday showed that 54 per cent of Malaysians believe the government is hiding information about MH370, while 20 per cent were unsure.
Only 26 per cent of the more than 1,000 people surveyed by Malaysia’s leading independent polling firm said the government was being transparent, according to the news portal Malaysian Insider, which commissioned the poll.
Malaysian authorities insist they are hiding nothing, but need to be cautious on commenting on ongoing investigations, and confirm information before it is released.
Hishammuddin also declined to comment on speculation that the co-pilot of the jet made a phone call, saying police were investigating the matter. A local newspaper reported that Fariq Abdul Hamid had made the phone call when it was flying low near Penang.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak slammed a statement issued by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim who claimed he could solve the mystery of the missing jetliner in a second.
Najib said the disappearance had entered its 39th day and needed the support of other countries due to the complexity of the search and its unprecedented challenges.
“The remark of the opposition leader is illogical and regards the people of Malaysia as stupid,” he said at the monthly meeting of the Finance Ministry here yesterday.
Earlier this month, a Chinese newspaper published an interview Anwar gave to the Southern Weekly magazine in which he was quoted as saying that if he were the prime minister, it would take him just one second to solve the issue of the missing MH370.
