![[UPDATED] Govt awards RM15.7 mil contract for Bofors naval guns to BHIC subsidiary](https://media.thevibes.com/images/uploads/covers/_large/20220912-Bofors_57mm_L70_gun_on_RMN_frigate_Jebat-wikimedia_commons.jpeg)
KUALA LUMPUR – The government has awarded a RM15.7 million contract to a Boustead Heavy Industries Corporation Bhd (BHIC) subsidiary for the supply and delivery of Bofors naval guns for the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN).
In a Bursa Malaysia filing today, BHIC said BHIC Bofors Asia Sdn Bhd (BBA) had accepted an award letter from the Defence Ministry dated September 1.
The contract is for the “supply and delivery of spare parts, maintenance and training for RMN’s Bofors 57MM/L70 gun”.
The contract is valued at RM15.723 million, excluding goods and services tax, and is for a period of three years from the date of BBA accepting the award.
“A formal contract between the Defence Ministry and BBA will be signed at a later date,” read the statement.
It added that the contract will “contribute positively to the future earnings of BHIC”.
BBA is a joint-venture company between BHIC Defence Technologies Sdn Bhd (BHICDT), a subsidiary of Boustead Penang Shipyard Sdn Bhd, which in turn is owned by BHIC and BAE Systems Bofors Holdings Sdn Bhd (BAESB).
BHICDT has a 51% stake in BBA while the other 49% is held by BAESB.
The Bursa filing also noted that BHIC, through BHICDT, owns a 51% equity interest in BBA, with BHIC director Rozi Baharudin and the company’s chief financial officer Ahmad Fazril Mohd Fauzi both holding directorship roles in BBA.
“Save for the interest of BHIC in BBA, none of the directors or substantial holders of BHIC, or persons connected with them, have any interest, direct or indirect, in the award letter.”
BHIC is the sister company to Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNS), the main contractor for the contentious littoral combat ships (LCS) project, which has seen the government fork out over RM6 billion for the procurement of six vessels, none of which have been delivered to date.
BHIC and BNS are both subsidiaries of Boustead Holdings Bhd, which has the Armed Forces Fund Board as its biggest shareholder.
The independent company hired by BHIC to conduct a forensic audit report into the LCS project has since come under legal fire after Mersing MP Datuk Abdul Latiff Ahmad’s lawyers issued a letter of demand to Alliance IFA (M) Sdn Bhd director Prabhat Kumar. – The Vibes, September 12, 2022
