Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said the search was suspended on Jan 17 this year after an underwater sweep that covered 120,000 sq km in the southern Indian Ocean by expeditions funded by Malaysia, Australia and China.
The final report on the investigations to determine what happened to the plane will only be available a year later, he said. These would include investigations on the air traffic controllers and defence ministry in relation to the incident.
“The decision to suspend the operations to look for the MH370 aircraft was in line with the Ministerial Triparte Meeting between Malaysia, Australia and China held in July 2016,” he said.
Liow, who is the Barisan Nasional MP for Bentong, said this in reply to William Leong (PKR-Selayang) at the Dewan Rakyat today.
Leong had asked the minister to state the costs incurred to search for the missing aircraft and if a report on the matter will be released.
Liow said the department of civil aviation would now lead a response team to monitor any new evidence on the missing vehicle.
He also rubbished allegations that Malaysia had not provided adequate information on the search.
He pointed to claims that Malaysia did not give information to the Australian Transport Safety Board (ATSB) on the search of the plane, saying they were untrue.
“All the information is shared with member countries including Australia, the United Kingdom, China, France, Singapore and Indonesia,” he said.
“Interim reports were released on the first and second years (since the flight went missing).
“The last report based on investigations on the air traffic controllers and defence ministry will be released a year after the search is suspended,” he added.
He the search would resume when there is credible evidence.
MH370 was on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board when it vanished from the air traffic controller’s radar screens.
Families of those on board who disappeared along with the plane launched a campaign on March 4 to privately fund a search after the suspension of the official search was made known.