KOTA KINABALU: The family of the late Datuk Peter Mojuntin is hoping to finally get the answers to several key questions that have surrounded the “Double Six” plane crash that occurred over 40 years ago.
Datuk Donald Mojuntin believed that the unsolved mystery surrounding the June 6, 1976, incident, which took the life of his father and 10 others, was akin to “a great injustice done to all Sabahans”.
“What more to the respective families of the victims,” he said when contacted.
Donald, who followed his father’s footsteps as a politician, said among the burning questions they wanted answered was what had actually happened that caused the plane to crash.
“Was it an accident due to negligence? If it was, why wasn't any action taken against anyone?
“Or was it sabotage? If so, by whom and for what reason?
“And why was the investigation report put under the Official Secrets Act? If it was to protect public interest, what public interest is that?” he asked.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had on Wednesday (April 5) announced that the full report on the crash would be declassified and released by the Transport Ministry next week.
The premier added that the Cabinet had decided this was in the interest of the victims' families and the people of Sabah.
Mojuntin, then the Sabah local government and housing minister, perished together with 10 others including then Sabah chief minister Tun Fuad Stephens when the Australian-made Nomad aircraft 9M-ATZ they were flying in from Labuan crashed in Sembulan here.
The incident sparked numerous conspiracy theories over the decades, including that it had something to do with Sabah’s oil rights, with repeated calls made by local leaders for Putrajaya to make the investigation report public.
Donald said the tragedy was not only of concern to the victims' respective families, but also to the whole of Sabah, as the incident practically wiped out half the then Sabah Cabinet.
The former state finance assistant minister also questioned why the incident was played down.
“It took great effort and an emotional toll to gain a semblance of closure.
“This is especially so when every year for the last 47 years, each June 6 of every single of those years, people kept asking similar questions as the ones mentioned.
“It was an emotional torment for all of us,” said Donald, who is presently the deputy president for Sabah-based party Upko, which is a component of Pakatan Harapan.
In a statement, Upko Youth chief Felix Joseph Saang said the government's move to declassify the investigation report, which was previously bound by the Official Secrets Act 1972, will give confidence to the people, especially the victims' relatives, in the government's transparency.
“We commend the courage and sincerity of the Prime Minister and the government today to announce the final report of the investigation.
“The people of Sabah have the right to know what actually happened in the incident,” he said.
Besides Fuad and Mojuntin, others killed were state finance minister Datuk Salleh Sulong, communications and works minister Chong Thien Vun and assistant minister to chief minister Darius Binion.
The dead also included Datuk Wahid Peter Andau (permanent secretary to the Finance Ministry), Syed Hussein Wafa (director of the Economic Planning Unit), Johari (Fuad’s son), Captain Gandhi Nathan (pilot), Corporal Said Mohammad (Fuad’s bodyguard) and Ishak Atan (Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah’s executive assistant).
