KENINGAU: Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan is hoping there will be an explanation on certain 'coincidences' in the report of the Double Six tragedy 47 years ago which was released recently.
Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan said that the recent declassification of the Malaysian official investigation had put the blame on the pilot Gandhi J. Nathan, who was among the 11 killed in the crash near Sembulan.
"But the pilot has died, how is he going to answer or defend himself whether the report is accurate or not?
"We have waited for the report for so long, it is more than 45 years. When it was released and declassified, they said there was no sabotage element. But why wait for so long to release it? Is it because you are hiding something?" he said when met at the Tambunan Kaamatan festival near here.
Kitingan, who is also Keningau member of parliament, added that while he did not want to speculate on what happened at the time, he wished that some questions would get answers.
During the tragedy on June 6, 1976, the then federal finance minister and also chairman of Petronas Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah was in Labuan with the then Chief Minister Tun Fuad Stephens to discuss the oil and gas deal.
However, it was reported that Stephens had refused to sign the deal.
"Through the sharing of Razaleigh, he had said that he had sat with Stephens and the rest in the plane (bound to Kota Kinabalu from Labuan).
"Suddenly another person, which was (Berjaya leader) Datuk Harris Salleh (now Tan Sri) had asked Razaleigh to be on another aircraft to visit the cattle ranch (at Banggi island), but at that time the farm was actually yet to exist. Coincidently, the then Sarawak Chief Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Ya'kub was also brought to another plane.
"I don't want to speculate, but those who survived had signed the oil agreement which was equal to surrendering oil (rights) to Petronas.
"I also want to ask why there was no respect given towards family members as they asked for signatures during the mourning period? Why could they not wait, the oil would not go anywhere?"
The Double Six tragedy killed Stephens, his son Johari and bodyguard Corporal Said Muhammad; Local Government and Housing Datuk Peter Mojuntin, Local Government and Housing minister Datuk Chong Thien Vun, Finance Minister Datuk Salleh Sulong and his permanent secretary Datuk Wahid Peter Andau; Sabah's economic planning unit director Dr Syed Hussein Wafa.
Also killed was Razaleigh's private secretary Ishak Atan.
"I agree with Mojuntin's (eldest son Datuk Donald's opinion) that the revelation of the report raised more questions.
"I myself have a lot of questions. But, who will answer it?"