Mat Sabu, Liew deny PH ‘silent’ on LCS project when in power
“The defence ministry was told to present this to the Cabinet as soon as possible. Unfortunately, what we had planned didn’t happen due to the toppling of the PH government”
(FMT) – Former defence minister Mohamad Sabu and his then deputy, Liew Chin Tong, have denied that Pakatan Harapan was “silent” about the littoral combat ship (LCS) project when it was in power.
In a joint statement, they said Mohamad, better known as Mat Sabu, had mooted the formation of the governance, procurement and finance investigation committee, which investigated the troubled project, at the first PH Cabinet meeting on May 30, 2018.
They said the committee’s chairman, former auditor-general Ambrin Buang, then tabled its findings on the LCS project to the ministry on Aug 20, 2019.
They said Ambrin, Mohamad, Liew, armed forces chief Affendi Buang, navy chief Mohd Reza Sany and senior defence ministry officials gave then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad a briefing on the issue on Feb 11, 2020.
“In that meeting, (Mahathir) decided that, firstly, those who committed any wrongdoing must be brought to justice and, secondly, Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd’s (BNS) management should be revamped.
“Thirdly, the then prime minister decided that the LCS project should be considered a ‘sick’ project and receive an injection of funds.
“The defence ministry was told to present this to the Cabinet as soon as possible. Unfortunately, what we had planned didn’t happen due to the toppling of the PH government,” they said.
Yesterday, former prime minister Najib Razak said PH had just “watched” and “kept silent” when the first LCS ship failed to be delivered in 2019.
Najib also questioned the status of the project from May 2018 to September 2019, when the project was halted.
In reply, Mohamad and Liew said the project was only 50.15% complete in January 2020, when it was supposed to reach 70% completion by then. In January 2020, the project was 56.39% complete, when it was supposed to be 82.41%.
They also said defence minister Hishammuddin Hussein’s projection for the first LCS ship to be completed within two years was unrealistic.
They said the detailed design phase of the project, which will need to be approved by the French Naval Group (previously known as DCNS), was ongoing when it was slated to be completed in November 2016.
They also pointed out that defence ministry secretary-general Muez Abdul Aziz told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in September 2021 that the detailed design was around 80% complete at the time.
“(Muez) also said that, after BNS completed the detailed design, Naval Group will need at least 12 months from the date of payment to complete its confirmation (of the design) as the design authority.
“Since the detailed design is about 80% complete while Naval Group has yet to be paid, Hishammuddin’s announcement that the first LCS ship would be ready in a year or two is not realistic,” they said.
