FOLLOWING Malaysia scoring a “D” on Transparency International’s Government defence integrity index (GDI), a former deputy defence minister urged the Government to implement all priorities listed under the Defence White Paper (DWP) made in 2019.
“The DWP, which was passed by Parliament on Dec 2, 2019 in bipartisan support, should be given utmost attention by the current Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein.
“The full implementation of DWP and its associated blueprints should clarify defence priorities and prevent personal preferences of politicians, civil servants, and even military leaders, when it comes to procurement,” Liew Chin Tong said, in a statement.
Two days ago, Transparency International- Malaysia (TI-M) said that Malaysia scored “D” for the GDI last year, in a study which looks into efforts to curb graft in defence and security institutions in 77 countries.
Malaysiakini reported TI-M president Muhammad Mohan as saying that the study found Malaysia had poor legislative oversight over budget, low competitive bidding for procurement, lacks an independent ombudsman and little data transparency.
“We urge the Government to seriously look at the high risks of corruption in the defence sector and take measures to mitigate the situation,” Mohan was reported saying.
In 2014, the Government awarded Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd’s (BNS) a RM9 bil to deliver six littoral combat ships (LCS) to the Malaysian navy by April last year.
Surprisingly, BNS did not deliver any of the combat ships as scheduled despite the Government had disbursed RM5.94 bil, with RM1 bil could not be traced.
Despite LCS’ non-delivery, then-Senior Minister (Security) Datuk Seri Ismail Yaakob said last year that the Cabinet has agreed for Boustead Group to continue with the LCS project, which has been delayed since 2019, claiming it would save 1,600 jobs, comprising of more than 400 vendors involving Bumiputera small and medium enterprises (SME).
Two days ago, Senior Defence Minister Hishammuddin said that the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) would receive its first LCS only in 2025.
LCS was mooted during Hishammuddin’s first stint
Touching on the matter, Liew said that the previous Pakatan administration had released the 16 pieces of inquiry reports on land swap involving the Defence Ministry over the years, which was produced by a committee led by former Auditor-General Tan Sri Ambrin Buang.
“Ambrin also investigated many other cases but no reports have been published, with no one being held accountable,” the Johor DAP chairman added.
As for the LCS project, Liew reminded the public that it was initiated during Hishammuddin’s first stint as defence minister and then-premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had instructed for action to be taken against the wrongdoers but nothing has transpired to date.
“I will comment further once I have read the full report by TI-M,” Liew concluded. – Nov 18, 2021.
