ANN/THE STAR – The final report on the ‘Double Six’ plane crash in Sabah back in 1976 will be declassified, announced Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim yesterday.
The prime minister said the full report will be released by the Transport Ministry next week. He said the Cabinet had decided on the matter in the interest of the victims’ families and the people of Sabah.
“Taking into consideration the sentiment and the sensitivity of the people, especially in Sabah over the incident which happened 47 years ago, the Cabinet has decided to declassify the final report on the air crash,” he said after chairing the Cabinet meeting yesterday.
The investigation report on the ‘Double Six’ plane crash, one of the darkest moments in Sabah’s history, has been under wraps for the last 47 years.
The crash had killed 11 people, including then Sabah Chief Minister Fuad Stephens, state ministers Salleh Sulong, Peter Mojuntin and Chong Thien Vun.
They were on a flight from Labuan when the aircraft crashed in Sembulan while approaching the Kota Kinabalu International Airport.
Among others who also perished were state assistant minister Darius Binion, Sabah Finance Ministry permanent secretary Wahid Peter Andau, Isak Atan (private secretary to Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, who was then finance minister), Said Mohammad (bodyguard to Fuad), pilot Gandhi Nathan and Fuad’s eldest son Johari Stephens.
The declassification of the ‘Double Six’ tragedy will end all speculation over the crash said Parti Warisan Information Chief Azis Jamman. He said the tragedy had been a mystery to many Sabahans.
“The Federal Government’s decision to declassify the report… is a step in the right direction,” he said in a statement yesterday.
Azis said the announcement is something many Sabahans will welcome as they have been waiting decades for the report.
He said many still remember the tragedy and have been asking what caused the crash since.
Azis said questions and speculation would arise during the annual memorial for those who perished in the accident.
A memorial ceremony is held every year to remember the tragedy at the crash site in what is known as the Double Six Monument in Sembulan.
Last month, Malaysian High Court judge Justice Christopher Chin Soo Yin delivered a mandamus order during the ruling of a judicial review filed by Harris Mohd Salleh, who succeeded Fuad as chief minister after his death, to declassify the report.
This was to make public the investigation report by Malaysian authorities into the crash of an Australian-made Nomad aircraft 9M-ATZ crash in Kota Kinabalu.
In his ruling, Justice Chin also ordered the Chief Secretary, Transport Minister as well as the Malaysian Government to act necessarily to make the report public by June 8.
“And to the extent that if such disclosure requires, by treaty or otherwise, concomitant action by the Australian government, that the respondents do take immediate steps to procure such action, to facilitate the prompt de-classification ordered,” he said.
In his grounds of judgement, Justice Chin said the mystery surrounding the crash remained a burning issue among Sabahans and that this lack of closure has been reflected in the media.
