A Particle of Boredom

The purchase of the Cougar EC 725 helicopters from Eurocopter to replace the ageing RMAF Nuri helicopters has been deferred until the country’s economy improves, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said. The Prime Minister, who is also the Defence Minister, clarified that the cost of the purchase was RM1.7bil. He said the allocation would instead be channelled to other public programmes which provided high trickle-down benefits to the people. The decision, Abdullah said, was made during the Economic Council exco meeting on Oct 13, when the Economic Planning Unit had been directed to restructure the financial allocations for projects implemented under the Ninth Malaysia Plan for all ministries.

Source : The Star