PUBLIC Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman Wong Kah Woh has hit back at former defence minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, as the tit-for-tat over the delay in delivery of six combat ships to the Royal Malaysian Navy continues.
This time, Wong was responding to Zahid’s concerns that any exposure of documents related to the troubled littoral combat ship (LCS) project might involve state secrets.
As such, Zahid recommended the PAC be more sensitive in its investigations, following the release of its report on what has been deemed Malaysia’s new scandal.
In a statement today, Wong said he was not sure what Zahid meant by “being sensitive”, pointing out that the PAC was merely doing its job to scrutinise public spending.
The PAC’s scope of work and responsibilities is also spelled out in Section 77(1) of the Standing Orders of the Dewan Rakyat, the Ipoh Timur MP said.
“The PAC respects the need to respect national security sensitivities.
“However, as the PAC chairman, I will not allow this reason to be used on a whim and to stop Malaysians from knowing how the Government actually spends tax-payer money,” he said.
Wong added that the PAC’s report on the LCS procurement was prepared based on facts, documents and explanations given to the committee during its proceedings.
The LCS project is the talk of the town after it was revealed that none of the ships have been received yet – despite RM6 bil already forked out and four years having passed.
Zahid has since distanced himself from the scandal, saying he was not the defence minister at the time the RM9 bil project was awarded to Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNS).
“We’d consider requests to change witness statements”
Wong, meanwhile, said if any witnesses summoned by the PAC request to amend, correct or redact the information they gave on the grounds of national security, this will be considered.
The DAP lawmaker said the PAC will consider this after getting legal advice from representatives of the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) who attend each PAC proceeding as ex-officio members.
However, during the PAC’s LCS proceedings, no witness made such a request, he said, adding that this included Zahid, who gave testimony on Oct 25, 2021.
An official Hansard detailing his testimony was posted to Zahid on Jan 4, 2022, but the UMNO president did not revert with any amendments, corrections or redactions, although seven days were given for this.
Wong added that the PAC has removed information from its Hansards in the past, as was done during its previous investigation into the country’s COVID-19 vaccine procurement.
“Khairy Jamaluddin, who was the science, technology and innovation minister at the time, requested that the procurement price of the COVID-19 vaccines be removed from the Hansard.
“We even removed (Khairy’s) presentation slides that included the COVID-19 vaccine prices from our report,” Wong said.
Wong said the PAC agreed to do this to ensure the Government was not exposed to any risk of vaccine procurement contracts being terminated by the vaccine suppliers over the reveal of the procurement prices.
This, in turn, would have potentially harmed the supply of the COVID-19 vaccines in the country.
Zahid will be summoned by the PAC early next month to answer questions over the scandal, as the opposition calls for inquiries into the matter and action to be taken by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who has yet to issue a response.
Wong previously rubbished former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak’s criticism over the PAC’s LCS report as well. – Aug 9, 2022
Photo credit: Malaysiakini
