Liow: We will wait for experts’ and countries’ views on need to resume search

KUALA LIPIS: The decision whether the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 resumes will depend on experts’ findings and the agreement of the three countries involved, said Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.

He said this was because all information received, including from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), must be scrutinised and verified by the MH370 Action Committee, led by Civil Aviation Department director-general Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman.

“Let’s wait for the experts. The committee led by Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman will look into the facts presented by CSIRO yesterday.

“We have to see whether it is new or just old data ... and whether this can be considered by Malaysia, China and Australia to reconsider the joint decision to suspend the search mission,” he said after witnessing the handover ceremony of Track Work Machinery to Fajarbaru Builder Group Bhd (Fajarbaru) at the Padang Tengku Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd (KTMB) office here yesterday.

Present were Fajarbaru chairman Datuk Low Keng Kok and executive director Eric Kuan Khian Leng, as well as KTBM general manager (Project Management) Abdul Rahman Din.

Liow was responding to a media report yesterday, quoting CSIRO’s David Griffin that the agency had potentially narrowed the search area to three specific locations based on satellite pictures taken two weeks after Flight MH370 went missing.

The report noted that the Australian government, however, rejected CSIRO’s report, saying it was not precise enough.

On March 8, 2014, Flight MH370 carrying 239 people, including 12 crew members, disappeared while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

In another development, Liow said the project to upgrade the 550km railway tracks from Gemas in Negri Sembilan to Tumpat in Kelantan, undertaken by the government at a cost of RM800 million, was expected to be completed in 2020.

He said the project, which was divided into three packages, namely Tumpat-Gua Musang, Gua Musang-Mentakab and Mentakab-Gemas, was vital due to the poor condition of the tracks.

“When the new tracks are in place, it will increase the speed of the intercity train, which currently runs at 60kph, to 90kph and hence, reduce the travel time from Gemas to Tumpat by 12 hours,” he said.