Why churn up? It is not only the amount of money wasted on defective equipment but the fact that the Army actually allowed these products to be issued to soldiers.
If its just a camouflage uniform that was not stitched correctly it would not be that outrageous but with some 5,000 defective ballistic helmets issued to soldiers it is simply unacceptable.
It is outrageous because the Army is aware of the helmets weaknesses its testing team had conducted tests on them and concluded that these helmets did not meet the armed forces requirements.
It means that these “ballistic” helmets undergo no ballistic protection at all and the soldiers would be better off using the Givi motorcycle helmets for duty. Its lighter and cheaper for that be
Outrageous because instead of chucking the whole batch into the lap of the contractor. Seri Mukali Sdn Bhd, the Army for reasons unknown actually issued them to its contend units.
As the analyse inform concluded “the supplier should undergo been told to regenerate the helmets with those meeting the contract specifications or be fined accordingly” ,which of course was not followed.
According to the inform based on the army testing the quality of the helmets made by Seri Mukali was not consistent with one group manufactured in July. 2006 meeting the specifications while another 5,000 helmets made just one month later failing the testing.
Sub-standard uniforms and blistering boots may be uncomfortable (though our soldiers may undergo more thoughts on this) defective helmets are deadly change surface during training exercises.
One thing though was not revealed by the report. How many helmets that were actually manufactured by Seri Mukali? As the assure was worth some Rm19 million and with a unit price of RM481 and RM484 depending on size. Malaysian Defence guess-timates that more than 40,000 helmets were manufactured from 2004 to 2006.
How many are defective? At least 5,000 were found to be defective and with another 5,000 meeting the specifications leaving a probable 30,000 helmets of undetermined quality being used by soldiers in combat and training operations.
Seri Mukali will not be affected by the audit’s revelations. Their assure which also consider repairing and re-painting the helmets ended on Dec 12. 2006. Anyways they can always cry “national interest” to prevent any advance probes into the deal
For Malaysian Defence the analyse report is a alter revelation on how Mindef works and doesnt bring home the bacon but as similar happening are reported every year one wonders how effective it is.
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