Tentera US telah membelanjakan USD3.3. juta dalam misi pencarian MH370- U.S. military has spent $3.3 mln on Malaysia Airlines search - Pentagon

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military has spent more than $3.3 million on the search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 and has put in place plans that nearly double the original $4 million available for the hunt, a Pentagon spokesman said on Wednesday.

Army Colonel Steve Warren said the Defense Department spent $3.2 million between March 8 and March 24 on the initial search for the Boeing 777-200ER, which went missing more than three weeks ago during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

"This paid for ships steaming and helicopters flying, helicopters and planes," Warren told reporters.

Those funds came from $4 million that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel initially authorized in spending from the Pentagon's Overseas Humanitarian Disaster and Civic Aid fund, he said.

As the search for the missing plane shifted to the southern Indian Ocean, the Pentagon's contribution to the effort narrowed to flying Navy P-8 surveillance planes out of Perth, Australia.

Funding for the effort then shifted to the Navy's Operations and Maintenance budget. Between March 25 and March 31, the Navy spent about $148,300 to fly its P-8s in the ocean search mission, he said.

The Pentagon also responded to a Malaysian request to provide underwater search equipment, sending a Towed Pinger Locator as well as a Bluefin-21 autonomous underwater vehicle. Both devices can be used to listen for pinging sounds emitted by the plane's flight data recorders.

Warren said no specific limit had been set on the funding for flying the P-8s. He said the Pentagon had set an initial budget of $3.6 million for the underwater search equipment being provided by the Naval Sea Systems Command. That gear is still en route to the search area.

"That's how much we've budgeted for the pinger and the Bluefin," Warren said. "We don't have an exact cost yet because it's going to vary depending on how much it gets used."

Up to 10 planes and nine ships from a half dozen countries on Wednesday scoured a stretch of ocean roughly the size of Britain, where the Malaysia Airlines jetliner is believed to have crashed.

Authorities have not ruled out mechanical problems as causing the disappearance, but say all the evidence suggests the plane was deliberately diverted from its scheduled route.

(Reporting by David Alexander; Editing by Paul Simao)

@Reuters

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Bayangkan berapa banyak yang perlu Kerajaan Malaysia belanjakan bagi misi pencarian MH370 yang akhirnya dikatakan disabotaj dan dihijack, walaupun sudah hamp;ir 30 hari misi pencarian dilakukan samada di Laut China Selatan, Koridor Utara dan yang terkini di Koridor Selatan.

Misi yang tidak ketahuan ini tentunya menyulitkan kerana mencari sesuatu tanpa ada petunjuk yang jelas, namun ianya perlu dicari demi menjaga maruah negara dan juga memenuhi tuntutan ahli keluarga penumpang MH370 yang perlukan bukti fizikal sebagai bukti bahawa ahli keluarga mereka sememangnya hilang.

Petunjuk bagi MH370 disabotaj tentunya ia menjadi 'sulit dan rahsia kerajaan' untuk dimaklumkan kepada umum tentang apa sebenarnya yang berlaku dan siapa dalangnya. Mungkin ianya dalam tindakan pihak perisikan kerajaan Malaysia dalam menyelesaikan isu ini.

Semoga doa dan solat hajat seluruh umat Islam di Malaysia dan seluruh dunia dimakbulkan moga tuhan tunjukkan jalan keluar kerana tindakan dan apa yang perlu dilakukan sekarang sememangnya menelan kos yang amat besar demi maruah negara. Ianya juga dapat menjimatkan kewangan kerajaan dari duit dan hasil rakyat demi kelangsungan Malaysia tercinta.