A PKR MP urged the Government to be transparent in regards to the Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd’s (BNS) scandal on the non-delivery of six littoral combat ships (LCS) worth over RM9 bil.
“Recently, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) arrested several individuals in regards to the LCS scandal.
“While we laud the matter, the public would want those responsible to be charged in court and get punished. Bear in mind that arrests alone don’t mean the case is resolved.
“Besides, the Government has yet to come up with measures on how to resolve the scandal and ensure such a thing is never repeated,” Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said, in a statement.
The project was awarded in 2014 during the previous Barisan Nasional regime. The order was for six littoral combat ships to be constructed.
The first ship should have been delivered in April, 2019 but none has been built so far although the Government has disbursed close to RM6 bil in payment to BNS.
Former Deputy Defence Minister Liew Chin Tong told the Dewan Negara in September that RM1 bil out of the RM5.94 bil paid out to BNS could not be traced.
On Jan 27, MACC arrested a 62-year-old broker in relation to the case, where the latter was alleged to have designed “ghost projects” to siphon RM24 mil.
It was said that the individual had worked in cahoots with a former CEO of a company that was involved in the procurement of the ships.
“This company had many sub-contractors working under it in the LCS project. Investigators believe that the suspect (the broker) was assigned to engage three companies to act as sub-contractors doing works that actually didn’t exist, and false claims were submitted to the first company,” the report stated.
Too many discrepancies
On that note, Nik Nazmi, who was the former chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Defence and Domestic Affairs, said in his probe during Pakatan Harapan’s reign, it was found that the project was ridden with hefty costs and questionable payments; leaving his team bewildered on how approvals were given in the first place.
“And we can only get a clear picture on the case if the select committee is allowed to probe the matter further and reveal its finding to the public.
“Bear in mind that the select committee, during Pakatan’s administration, moved quickly to rectify the situation but was unable to complete the task due to the change in Government,” he remarked. – Feb 3, 2022
