PETALING JAYA: Pakatan Harapan cannot be blamed for the delay in the littoral combat ship (LCS) project as it was already behind schedule since 2016, say two of its leaders.

Former defence minister Mohamad Sabu and his then deputy Liew Chin Tong said in a joint statement on Tuesday (Aug 9) that the LCS project has been facing delays since 2016 as the detailed design, which was supposed to be completed in November 2016, has yet to be finalised to date.

“The Pakatan Harapan government had made the decision on the direction of the project in February 2020 based on the proposal of the Special Investigation Committee on Public Governance, Procurement and Finance (JKSTUPPK), but the government collapsed in that very month,” they said.

As of January 2020, the project progress had only reached 56.39% with a variance of -26.02% compared with the projection of 82.41%.

“Until today, the detailed design has not been completed,” they said while providing a timeline of progress since 2016.

“It is clear that Najib (former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak) is trying to mislead the people and blame the Pakatan Harapan government when it was him and Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (former defence minister) who were responsible for the project’s failure for approving it without proper negotiations with experts,” they claimed.

They were responding to Najib's Facebook post where he had questioned the lack of progress in the project during Pakatan’s rule.

Najib had questioned why the progress had only been around 5% in the 17 months until September 2019, when it was put on hold for review by Pakatan.

Mohamad said that the special investigation committee was set up to probe the project in his first Cabinet meeting, which took place within less than two weeks after he was sworn into office.

“The Pakatan Harapan government had tried its best to save the LCS project,” the two leaders added.

The committee led by former auditor-general Tan Sri Ambrin Buang had tabled a report on the investigation to the Defence Ministry on Aug 20, 2019, they said, adding that the ministry's officials, the Royal Malaysian Navy and the contractors had tried to find a solution to the issue.

The duo along with Ambrin, top officials of the ministry, Armed Forces chief Tan Sri Affendi Buang and Navy chief Admiral Tan Sri Reza Sany had briefed former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad over the matter.

Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Zuki Ali, who was the former secretary-general of the Defence Ministry, had also attended the session on Feb 11, 2020.

“The former prime minister (Dr Mahathir) had decided in the meeting that those who have committed the wrongdoing must be brought to justice,” they said, adding that this also led to the restructuring in the Boustead Naval Shipyard (BNS) top management.

“The LCS project was seen as a sick project which needed fresh funds to be pumped in to replace the money that was swindled,” they claimed.

Mohamad and Liew said that the ministry was slated to table a working paper to the Cabinet, but that did not materialise following the “Sheraton Move” which led to the downfall of the Pakatan government.

It was previously reported that RM1.4bil worth of government funds intended for the multibillion-ringgit LCS project signed in 2014 was diverted for other purposes.

None of the ships have been completed so far, although five should have been delivered by this month, the PAC revealed in Parliament.

Another RM255mil worth of LCS equipment, or 15% of the RM1.7bil worth, which was kept in store for the project, is now obsolete.

These were among the findings contained in the bipartisan committee’s 250-page report that was tabled in the Dewan Rakyat on Aug 4.

Of the RM1.4bil, RM400mil was used to repay previous debts incurred under the New Generation Patrol Vessel (NGPV) project, RM305mil was used for an integration facility in Cyberjaya, and another RM700mil was a cost overrun that exceeded the LCS contract ceiling.

Last week, PAC chairman Wong Kah Woh said Ahmad Zahid would be called by the committee early next month, to testify.

Former commander of the Royal Malaysian Navy, Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Jaafar and the main contractor of the LCS ship project BNS were also among those called for the proceedings.

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2022/08/09/dont-blame-pakatan-over-lcs-project-delay-say-leaders