[UPDATED] PAC to quiz home, finance ministries, MMEA over delayed patrol vessels

KUALA LUMPUR – The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will summon the Home Ministry, Finance Ministry, and the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) over delays in the offshore patrol vessel (OPV) project.

Its chairman, Wong Kah Woh, said PAC wants MMEA and the Home Ministry to explain the delays to Parliament through the committee for the public’s benefit.

The company that was awarded the project to build the OPVs will also be summoned for an explanation, Wong said in a statement today.

“A date and time for the proceedings will be announced soon,” the Ipoh Timur MP said.

The vessels are being built by local company THHE Destini Sdn Bhd.

MMEA was to have received three OPVs in 2020, but the project, said to be worth RM738.9 million, has been delayed.

MMEA recently said it hoped to receive at least one vessel this year to beef up patrols in the country’s waters.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said he had little information on the delayed delivery and said the government would let PAC investigate the matter. He said PAC has the power to investigate dubious national projects, including the delayed OPV project.

Previously, Parit Buntar MP Datuk Seri Mujahid Yusof Rawa had questioned the government’s decision to award the contract via direct negotiation to Tabung Haji Heavy Engineering Bhd, which supposedly does not have experience in building ships.

Subsequently, MMEA director-general Zubil Mat Som said that the OPVs were under construction by local company THHE Destini. 

He reportedly attributed the delays to the Covid-19 pandemic, adding that the first vessel, designated OPV1, was scheduled to be launched on October 10 this year and handed to MMEA early next year. – The Vibes, September 26, 2022