To counter former premier Najib Abdul Razak’s alleged attempt to mislead the public, former defence minister Mohamad Sabu and his ex-deputy Liew Chin Tong recalled the Pakatan Harapan administration’s efforts to fix the problematic littoral combat ship (LCS) project.
The duo issued a joint statement after Najib repeatedly accused the Harapan government of delaying the project.
"On May 30, 2018, Mohamad (above, left) suggested at the first cabinet meeting he attended the formation of the Special Investigation Committee on Public Governance, Procurement and Finance (JKSTUPKK).
"The Harapan government had tried its best to rescue the LCS project.
"JKSTUPKK chairperson Ambrin Buang presented the committee's findings on the LCS project to the Defence Ministry on Aug 20, 2019. The officials from the ministry, the Royal Malaysian Navy, and the contractor had tried to find a solution," said Mohamad and Liew.
The pair said then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad was briefed on the matter by Ambrin, Mohamad, Liew and armed forces chief Affendi Buang, navy chief Mohd Reza Sany and senior Defence Ministry officials in February 2020.
Following this, the duo said Mahathir wanted those who committed the wrongdoings to be punished and Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd’s (BNS) management revamped.
"The LCS project would be considered a 'sick' project and would receive an injection of funds in order to replace the monies that were lost. The ministry was instructed to table a cabinet paper in the near future.
"Unfortunately, what was planned did not take place as the Harapan administration was brought down via the Sheraton Move.
"The LCS project has been delayed since 2016. The detailed design, which should have been completed in November 2016 has not been finalised until today.
"Najib is trying to mislead the people and blame the Harapan administration when he and former defence minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi should be responsible for the failure of the LCS project and for approving the project without consulting experts," they said.
‘Sick’ project
Najib has argued that the Harapan government erred in halting the LCS project in September 2019, claiming that work was 50.15 percent completed as of January 2018, four months before Harapan won the general election.
"However, between January 2018 and January 2020, for a span of 24 months, the project recorded a 6.24 percent progress.
"Harapan is the one who delayed, postponed and froze the project. After that, you ask ‘why the LCS is not ready in 2022’ and blame Najib instead," he said.
On Aug 4, the Public Accounts Committee disclosed that it held nine proceedings regarding the LCS issue from Nov 18, 2020, to March 8 this year. The committee had also summoned several witnesses.
The LCS project is an RM9 billion contract to procure six ships for the navy, which was initiated in 2011, but with zero results to date despite the government already having paid RM6 billion. The first ship was supposed to be delivered in 2019 but is now expected to only be delivered by 2024.
Other matters include the Defence Ministry choosing a different design for the vessels against the navy’s wishes as well as possible misconduct by the Umno-led BN government from 2011 to 2018.
Apart from Najib and Zahid, Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein has also been implicated in the LCS fiasco. - Mkini
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