KUALA LUMPUR, April 28 — The search operation (SAR) team for the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 needs to identify what kind of assets are required as it enters a new phase before the finance aspect can be sorted out, said Acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein.
He said he was grateful that Australia, which is currently leading the search operation in the southern Indian Ocean, and other countries had not raised the issue of finance since the beginning of the operation.
“But as we move forward into the next phase, it’s very important for us to sit down and work that out. But that can only be known when we actualy know what sort of assets we actually require for what kind of search and where.
“That requires us to sit down and regroup and re-strategise,” he told reporters here today.
During a press conference in Canberra this morning, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the search was now entering a new phase with more focus to be given over a much larger underwater search area.
He said it would involve commercial contractors with a high degree of specialisation in deep ocean search which would cost roughly A$60 million (RM182 million).
Abbott added that Australia would be seeking ‘some appropriate contribution’ from other nations involved in the search operation.
Asked on his meeting with the British High Commissioner Simon Featherstone, Hishammuddin said: “Basically the commitment is still there. It is important for us to give assurance to everybody, not only Malaysians, not only the families but I think the whole world wants to get to the bottom of it.”
Hishammuddin urged everybody not to jump the gun and make conclusions as the search for MH370 was continuing and being intensified.
“Let it be strategic, like Malaysia has always been since the beginning. We need to proceed in a structured way. We have been proven quite right in doing that because it is still a very long journey,” he said.
Flight MH370 with 239 people on board disappeared from radar screens about an hour into its flight while over the South China Sea on March 8.
A multinational search was mounted for the plane, first in the South China Sea and then, after it was learnt that the plane had veered off course, in the southern Indian Ocean. — Bernama
