PETALING JAYA: Negotiations for the procurement of nearly RM1 billion worth of self-propelled howitzers, an artillery system, are still ongoing, says defence minister Hishammuddin Hussein.
In denying a claim made by PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli yesterday, Hishammuddin said no contract had been awarded for the procurement.
He maintained that the end-user, the armed forces, should decide on what was needed.
Hishammuddin added that discussions with the finance ministry would proceed as usual and that the process of awarding the contract depended on multiple agencies, not just his ministry.
“Until the award has been determined, there is no need to announce something that hasn’t been given or decided on yet,” the senior minister said.
Yesterday, Rafizi alleged that Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob had instructed the finance ministry to directly award the RM854 million contract for the procurement to a company.
The former Pandan MP also claimed that the company involved had been established about two years ago and did not have any experience in the defence industry.
In August, Lembah Pantai MP Fahmi Fadzil urged finance minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz to respond to allegations regarding the approval for the purchase of the self-propelled howitzers through direct negotiations.
The PKR information chief was responding to a Facebook post by political observer and writer Zaharin Mohd Yasin who uploaded an image of what seemed to be a letter from the finance ministry to the defence ministry regarding the purchase.
This followed the scandal surrounding the RM9 billion contract to Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd for six littoral combat ships (LCS) as part of the navy’s fleet renewal plan. - FMT
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.