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KUALA LUMPUR. — Malaysia yesterday said the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines passenger jet now encompassed an area slightly larger than the entire land mass of Australia. “The entire search area is now 2,24 million square nautical miles (7,7 million square kilometres),” acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said in a daily press briefing on Tuesday evening. Australia has a land mass of around 7,6 million square kilometres.
The search area extends north into south central Asia, passing across far western China, including Xinjiang and Tibet, as well as south deep into the Indian Ocean west of Australia.
“This is an enormous search area. And it is something that Malaysia cannot possibly search on its own,” Hishammuddin said.
“I am therefore very pleased that so many countries have come forward to offer assistance and support to the search and rescue operation.”
26 countries have deployed dozens of aircraft to search for the missing Beijing-bound jet that went missing in the early hours of March 8.
Eleven days after contact was lost with the aircraft and its 239 passengers and crew, there has been minimal progress in determining precisely what happened or where the plane ended up.
Prime Minister Najib Razak said Saturday satellite data showed the plane had been deliberately diverted after it lost contact with ground controllers.
Meanwhile, Malaysia vehemently denies mishandling crucial information on the fate of missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370, but questions persist as to whether early missteps and secrecy contributed to the disappearance of a huge passenger plane on a clear night.
Foreign media reports, especially those in China’s state media, have accused the Malaysian authorities of incompetence, misleading the public and exacerbating the suffering of the relatives of those missing. Two-thirds of the passengers on the Boeing-777 that effectively vanished 11 days ago were Chinese nationals.
The Malaysian government has pleaded for patience and understanding, arguing it has no choice but to hold back information that has not been painstakingly verified.
Critics say the lack of progress in the search for the plane is symptomatic of an inefficient ruling elite unused to tough questioning.
“The Malaysian leadership is not used to being held to account on anything,” Michael Barr, an Asian politics expert at Flinders University in Australia, told AFP.
The stumbles over the missing plane search show that the government “lacks the ability to handle many technical matters with assurance and to communicate its purposes globally with clarity and agility,” said Clive Kessler, emeritus professor of sociology and anthropology at the University of New South Wales.
Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim who, along with right groups, has routinely accused the government of civil liberties abuses and corruption, was even more scathing.
“The mysterious disappearance of MH370 reflects not only an incompetent regime ruling the country but an irresponsible government,” Anwar said. — AFP.
Online Reporter