KUALA LUMPUR: A government backbencher has defended Putrajaya's decision to lease helicopters instead of buying them.
Chong Zhe Min (PH-Kampar) said Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin (PN-Larut) had claimed that buying the helicopters would only cost over RM8bil while leasing them would end up costing RM16.6bil.
“You cannot compare a direct purchase with a 15-year lease because we pay yearly and it includes the cost of maintenance, not to mention time value of money.
“(His comment) is not an apples-to-apples comparison," he said when debating the motion of thanks on the Royal Address.
Chong also raised the leasing of vehicles during the administration of Perikatan Nasional, which discontinued a cheaper contract and awarded a costlier one to Spanco.
"So, I challenge Larut to make a fair comparison (and) prove that the government did not lease helicopters from the company offering a lower bid," he said.
On Tuesday (Feb 4), Hamzah questioned the government's decision to lease helicopters at what he said was a high cost.
He drew comparison to the US$1.83bil (RM8.09bil) contract by Poland to purchase 32 AW149 helicopters from the Italian defence company Leonardo.
"Why is the government implementing a policy to lease helicopters at a very high price?
"Poland bought (the helicopters) very cheaply but we signed a contract to lease 28 helicopters for RM16.6bil,” he said in his debate.
In his debate speech text which was not read out, Hamzah also likened the helicopter leasing to the LCS contract.
On Nov 28, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the government had agreed to lease helicopters for the security forces, as it was more transport and would alleviate the country's financial burden.
Anwar, who is also Finance Minister, said leasing would ensure transparent negotiations conducted via government-to-government (G2G) agreements, without the involvement of agents.
He said that while some countries may buy helicopters at a lower price, the maintenance costs over time often surpass the initial purchase cost.
