KUCHING: Political analyst Professor James Chin has described the disclosure of the final report on the investigation of the ‘Double Six’ 1976 Sabah Airplane crash as a very good move by the federal government.
He said the most important part was the government finally giving closure to this tragedy, which happened many years ago.
“I think people will be asking for the publication of the report on the investigation, which the report is actually held in National Archive Australia, but again I don’t think you will find anything there.
“It’s just that in the last 20-30 years, there has been conspiracy theories.
“But my guess is that it has nothing, more on the design of the aircraft, not any particular, and it wasn’t an act of sabotage. That’s my understanding,” he said when contacted by New Sarawak Tribune on Thursday (April 6).
Therefore, he said, with the decision in making the report public by next week was indeed a very good move by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s administration.
“This is because there are a lot of things in Malaysia that we try to put under Official Secrets Act 1972 (OSA), where it is not necessary to be put under OSA,” he added.
On April 5, reported by Bernama, Anwar said the full report on the crash would be made public next week through an official statement from the government and also the Ministry of Transport.
He said the decision was made in the interest of the victims’ families as well as the views of the people of Sabah who wanted detailed information about the incident.
Anwar said public disclosure regarding the report was also in line with the policy of openness and transparency practised by the unity government.
The crash killed then Sabah chief minister Tun Fuad Stephens, along with several members of the Sabah Cabinet.
