KUALA LUMPUR – Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman Wong Kah Woh has defended the integrity of the PAC’s report on the alleged multibillion-ringgit littoral combat ships (LCS) scandal, telling former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to stop calling the findings a DAP ploy.
On Facebook, the Ipoh Timur MP said the recent PAC report on the project, which has spent RM6.083 billion without a single ship to show for, was not produced by DAP members alone, but through a committee comprising politicians from the government as well.
Referring to Najib as PM6 – short for the country’s sixth prime minister – Wong said the report on the alleged scandal was not produced by any single party, but by a team of 14 representatives, consisting of three each from Umno and Bersatu, two each from DAP and PAS, and one each from GPS, PKR, Amanah, and Warisan.
“14 parliamentarians from different parties, we are united. We are united in ensuring the people’s funds are protected. All decisions are made by consensus,” Wong said.
“We are independent, not like it was during the government under PM6, where there were 1MDB (1Malaysia Development Bhd) reports edited by the PAC chairman appointed by PM6 at the time.
“I also want to inform (him) that the statements by the PAC chairman were based on opinions, conclusions, and recommendations that were formed with consensus after two years of investigating the issue,” Wong said.
“These are not the views of the PAC chairman alone.”
Wong was responding to Najib who had gone on the defensive by posting several Facebook updates on the matter after the PAC released its report on the LCS project to Parliament on Thursday.
The 10-year project, which began in 2013, should have seen the first of six ships delivered in 2019, and the last by next year, but none have yet been completed.
PAC also found cost overruns of RM1.4 billion, an inventory worth RM1.7 billion, of which 15% is now obsolete, and that the Defence Ministry had ignored input from the Royal Malaysian Navy.
In one of his Facebook posts yesterday, Najib said Wong, the chairman of the PAC that audited the LCS project, was also DAP Youth chief. Najib also said he was never called in by the PAC to attend any meeting regarding the navy project.
“The statements that have turned into a controversy were issued by the said PAC chairman,” Najib had said.
“There are facts in his statement that are inaccurate, including those contained in media reports.”
But Wong responded to Najib’s remarks on his DAP Youth post, saying he left that position four years ago.
Wong also corrected Najib on the overall costing of the project, which was initially RM6 billion but raised by another RM3 billion to a total of RM9.128 billion, according to the PAC report on the matter.
The PAC chairman also slammed Najib for attempting to absolve himself from any responsibility in the scandal, as he was the prime minister between 2009 and 2018, and the project first kicked off in 2011.
Earlier today, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who held the position of defence minister from April 2009 to May 2013, distanced himself from the alleged LCS scandal, claiming that the project was awarded when he did not helm the ministry.
Among PAC’s other findings in its report was that feedback from RMN as the end user was completely ignored by the ministry and vessel provider Boustead Naval Shipyard (BNS) Sdn Bhd.
It detailed that originally, the Sigma design of the ship, which was the choice of RMN, was agreed to by the ministry. However, the decision to change to the Gowind design occurred on July 11, 2011 following BNS’ proposal on July 8 the same year.
Former deputy defence minister Liew Chin Tong had also pointed out today that Zahid presided over this change in design when the latter was defence minister.
PAC also recommended the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to take prosecutive action in the LCS affair, with the suggestion being made based on findings from several reports, namely its report, which included the testimony of former navy commander Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Jaafar.
MACC said yesterday that its investigation into the LCS procurement controversy is in the final stages, with investigation papers delivered to the Attorney-General’s Chambers. – The Vibes, August 7, 2022
