PETALING JAYA: Someone has to answer for a fiasco that led to Malaysia’s failure to obtain delivery of six littoral combatant ships (LCS), despite having paid RM5.94 billion.
An inquiry should be held to determine how RM1 billion of the sum already paid can no longer be accounted for.
Transparency International Malaysia president Dr Muhammad Mohan said the public should also be kept abreast of developments in the investigations.
Mohan was referring to a denial by former defence minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi that he was involved in the Defence Ministry’s procurement of the six vessels for the Royal Malaysian Navy for RM9 billion.
The LCS contract was awarded in 2014 to Boustead Navy Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNS) and the first of the six vessels was to be delivered in April last year. However, production work has yet to start on the first vessel.
Former deputy defence minister Liew Chin Tong told the Dewan Negara in September that RM1 billion of the RM5.94 billion already paid could not be accounted for.
Last Thursday, Public Accounts Committee chairman Wong Kah Woh said in the Dewan Rakyat that several individuals, including Ahmad Zahid, would be questioned over the purchase contract early next month.
Ahmad Zahid issued a statement on Dec 18, saying that the contractor’s failure to deliver the ships was only highlighted in 2019 when he was no longer in the Defence Ministry. He served as defence minister from April 2009 to May 2013.
Mohan told theSun that a parliamentary inquiry is an option to deal with the case, but the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission must also step in to investigate and provide an update on the various stages of the probe to the public.
“We are talking about taxpayers’ money here. Therefore, the people have a right to know. The government should act with transparency.”
Founding member of pro-moderation group G25, Tan Sri Mohd Sheriff Mohd Kassim, called for an open parliamentary inquiry into the missing RM1 billion.
Mohd Sheriff, who is a former treasury secretary-general, said that apart from witnesses from the Defence Ministry, the navy and BNS, the defence minister should also be called to testify.
“Either a parliamentary select committee or a special commission should be appointed to hear the witnesses. The disclosures in the inquiry can serve as a lesson to improve the procurement system.”
Wong said that apart from Ahmad Zahid, former navy chief Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Jaafar and BNS will be questioned early next month.
