PARLIAMENT | Dewan Rakyat Speaker Johari Abdul has rejected a motion to discuss the littoral combat ship (LCS) scandal in detail, according to Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman (Muda-Muar).
Syed Saddiq told the Parliament that a letter he received from the speaker's office stated it was rejected because the issue was "not a matter of public interest" and "not urgent".
"I would like to seek (the speaker) to reconsider this decision.
"While I understand that under the Parliament's Standing Order, a decision (by the speaker) cannot be challenged, there is some discretion.
"If a matter is not allowed to be discussed here, it can be taken to the Special Chamber so the issue can be discussed in a more detailed manner," he said.
The Muda president raised the motion rejection matter when Deputy Defence Minister Adly Zahari was answering questions from MPs regarding the LCS issue.
According to Syed Saddiq, the five-minute period allocated for Adly to explain the LCS issue was not adequate given the complexity of the matter.
"If this is not an urgent matter, it has been a popular discussion since before the general election, during the election, and even after the election.
"But until today, we have not seen more people getting charged in court. The country has spent billions of ringgit (on the LCS project), but not even one of the vessels has been delivered.
"And now the number of LCS has also been reduced. So I hope the speaker can consider this because it’s clear that the issue is an urgent matter for the rakyat, it involves billions of ringgit of taxpayers’ money, the sovereignty of our nation and its security," he told the Dewan Rakyat.
Earlier, Adly in answering a question from Ikmal Hisham Abdul Aziz (Tanah Merah-PN) explained why the government decided to pay an additional RM2.1 billion to resume the LCS project, which has been delayed for several years.
Under a new supplemental agreement inked between the government and shipbuilder Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNS) last month, Putrajaya had also agreed that the number of vessels be reduced to five instead of six.
The total contract price was initially RM9 billion for six vessels.
"Now with the number of vessels reduced to only five, it makes the cost for each vessel increased to RM2.24 billion from RM1.5b previously.
"This would be the most expensive price tag in history," Ikmal Hisham said in his additional question.
In response, Adly told the Parliament that there were two factors that had caused the increase in the project's total costs.
One of the factors, he said, was due to changes in some specifications for the LCS that Putrajaya is ordering for the navy, including adding surface-to-surface missiles and a decoy launching system to the vessels.
"And the additional 83 months needed to complete this project has also incurred more costs," said the deputy minister.
The LCS project began in 2013 but after RM6 billion was spent, BNS missed the 2019 deadline to deliver the first ship.
As of last year, construction of the sixth vessel has yet to begin and none of the vessels has progressed beyond the 50 percent mark.
A Public Accounts Committee (PAC) probe on the matter revealed that the navy’s requirement for the project was ignored by the government and due diligence had failed to establish BNS’ financial difficulties.
Meanwhile, Muda submitted a memorandum related to the LCS project to both Adly and Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairperson Mas Ermieyati Samsudin outside of Parliament today.
Muda secretary-general Amir Abd Hadi said the party had to resort to sending a memorandum to Parliament despite being part of the federal government because Saddiq’s motion to debate LCS in the Dewan Rakyat was rejected.
“We understand this matter should be debated in Parliament because this is the place where you can debate all this, but (Syed) Saddiq had sent in a motion but it was rejected.
“Because of that, we feel there is a need for a memorandum so that this bipartisan issue can be addressed,” Amir said to reporters after handing in the memorandum outside the Parliament today.
It is no longer useful to point fingers at who is at fault for the issues surrounding the LCS project, he added.
More importantly, they should be looking for a way to resolve the matter to ensure that the taxpayers’ money can be used appropriately to strengthen the navy’s assets, Amir said.
In their memorandum, Muda urged for the LCS issue to be debated as soon as possible in the Dewan Rakyat.
They also wanted all parliamentarians to commit to this issue so that the government will take the LCS matter more seriously.
Lastly, they also urged Putrajaya to drop charges initiated by the previous administration against those who joined a protest related to the LCS project.
Amir was one of those who was charged for joining the protest. - Mkini
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