KUALA LUMPUR – Former defence minister Mohamad Sabu slammed current minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob for blaming Pakatan Harapan’s rule from May 2018 to February 2020 for the delay in finding a solution to the country’s littoral combat ship (LCS) project delay.
In a joint statement with his former deputy Liew Chin Tong today, Mohamad took Ismail Sabri to task for his notion that an investigation under the PH administration had caused the project’s delay.
They said it was inaccurate, reflecting the current Perikatan Nasional government's lack of integrity.
They also claimed that Ismail Sabri’s statement on the matter is now no longer available on the Defence Ministry's website.
They said that the PH government had formed the Governance, Procurement, and Finance Investigation Committee headed by Tan Sri Amrin Buang to investigate issues with regards to defence procurement, as directed by the cabinet.
Both men called on Ismail Sabri to publish all details of the committee’s findings on the LCS project for the people to judge and evaluate.
“PH administered the country for 22 months while PN has been in charge for the last 15 months.
“Any delays encountered by the project are due to the inefficiency and lack of integrity of the (previous) Umno-Barisan Nasional government itself.
“The delay dates back to 2015 and is due to the project’s detailed design, which until today has not been finalised, as well as Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd’s (BNS) financial liquidity problems, which to some extent resulted from the project’s financial irregularities and inefficient management,” they claimed.
“The committee’s investigation also found among others that the LCS project started as a project proposed by a vendor, and not the consumer Royal Malaysian Navy (TLDM).
“At the time, TLDM proposed the procurement of the Sigma design made by Damen Shipyard from the Netherlands, which had continuity with the procurement of other TLDM ships, but (former prime minister) Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s government still chose the Gowind ship design, made by DCNS Naval Group from France.”
They added that the committee’s investigation also found that RM1 billion from the RM6 billion channelled to the builders had disappeared and could no longer be traced, and that it was suspected that elements of corruption had taken place.
“Issues of the project being ‘vendor-driven’ and of corruption and malpractice in the LCS project occurred when Najib, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, and Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein were defence ministers under the former Umno-BN administration,” they said.
“PH was just trying to clean up and improve the situation,” they claimed.
The investigations, they added, also suggested that the project be continued with the interest of TLDM as the foremost consideration, whereby strict conditions would be imposed so that there would be no more irregularities, and that an investigation into the loss of RM 1billion be carried out immediately.
They added that the proposals were accepted by the Defence Ministry and also PH’s prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad on February 11, 2020.
“The cabinet was scheduled to discuss and make the next final decision. Unfortunately, the Sheraton Move took place on February 23, 2020. Ismail Sabri has held the post of defence minister for the past 15 months,” they said.
Questions for Ismail Sabri
Mohamad and Liew asked the PN government and its Umno minister to answer several questions.
“How much funds will be injected to make this project a success? Some say RM3 billion is needed. Is the government still adamant that new funds will not be channelled?” they asked.
“How many ships can be completed ? Ismail Sabri himself said there may be only two. If there are only two ships, questions will arise about TLDM’s capabilities soon.”
They also stressed that the project completion schedule must be informed to the people.
“We understand that the detailed design of the ship has not yet been accepted by the ‘design authority’. This means that the progress of the ship cannot continue to completion because there is no plan to allow the installation of electronic equipment to the hull.”
They concluded that while the PH government had not barred BNS from proceeding with the LCS project, guaranteeing the interests of TLDM should be made key consideration. – May 12, 2021
