Boustead workers involved in LCS project being fired? asks Perikatan MP

KUALA LUMPUR – Nordin Ahmad Ismail (Lumut-PN) has taken the Defence Ministry to task over workers involved in the contentious littoral combat ships (LCS) project allegedly being laid-off by their employer. 

Pressing the ministry to address the matter in the Dewan Rakyat, the retired Royal Malaysian Navy commander claimed that the workers under the project’s main contractor Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNS) are being mistreated. 

“I would like to ask the Defence Ministry to explain the staggered firings of BNS workers who were involved in the LCS project (as the termination) is akin to persecution of the workers,” he said in a parliamentary question to the ministry. 

In a parliamentary written reply, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan (Rembau-BN) said that as a non-governmental corporation, BNS has the authority to manage itself however it sees fit. 

“As a private entity, BNS holds full responsibility in the handling of its organisation, including the hiring or firing of employees. 

“Any action relating to the dismissal of their workers is subject to the considerations of the company,” Mohamad, who is commonly known as Tok Mat, said. 

He added that should there be any incidents arising from the decisions made by the company, the affected parties could lodge a report to the relevant authorities. 

BNS has been mired in controversy since the release of the Public Accounts Committee report in August last year on the government procurement of the six LCS, which saw Putrajaya forking out over RM6 billion for ships that have yet to be delivered since the project began in 2013. 

The report also recommended that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission take prosecutive action against those behind the scandal.

So far, former navy chief Tan Sri Ahmad Ramli Mohd Nor, who had previously served as managing director of BNS, has been charged in court with three counts of criminal breach of trust involving the multi-billion-ringgit project. 

A separate report by the Governance, Procurement, and Finance Investigation Committee on the issue also found BNS to have poor financial capability and performance, thus potentially causing it to face issues in servicing loans amounting to nearly RM1 billion. – The Vibes, February 15, 2023