FORMER defence minister Mohamad Sabu and his then deputy Liew Chin Tong asked a most pertinent question in their joint statement yesterday: whether former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak had planned from the beginning for the littoral combat ships (LCS) project to be used to help pay off the bad debts from the failed new generation patrol vessel (NGPV) project.
I would ask two more forthright questions:
First, why is Najib trying to blame former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad for the RM9 bil LCS scandal when the procurement of the six LCS was made during Najib’s time – be it the conception, negotiation and contract signing – and not twenty years earlier when Mahathir was the prime minister?
Najib has attempted to link Mahathir to Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNS) being forced to use part of the funding for the LCS to pay off NGPV’s bad debts.
Second, why blame the Pakatan Harapan (Pakatan) Government for the scandal, which assumed power after Najib’s premiership?
According to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report on the LCS scandal, over RM6 bil of the ceiling project allocation had been paid to BNS by the Malaysian Government.
Of the RM6 bil, a total of RM745 mil was used for the “bailout” of the NGPV project, which is a criminal breach of trust under the Penal Code.
Mohamad and Liew have rightly pointed out that Najib cannot disclaim responsibility for the Royal Malaysian Navy scandal (the NGPV project) as he was deeply involved in the NGPV project, being the defence minister from 1990 to 1995 as well as from 2000 to 2008.
The origin of the NGPV project dates back to 1990 when the navy first planned to acquire 27 patrol vessels.
After getting approval in principle from the Cabinet in 1993, the proposed construction and acquisition of the patrol vessels were included in the privatisation agreement of Naval Dockyard Sdn Bhd (NDSB) between the Malaysian Government and Penang Shipbuilding and Construction Sdn Bhd (PSC) to form a consortium called PSC-NDSB.
After the failure of the project, Boustead took over PSC-NDSB in 2005 and renamed the company BNS the following year.
What is the amount of Najib’s responsibility in the NGPV scandal and the LCS scandal?
Instead of accepting responsibility for the NGPV and LCS scandals, Najib is trying to divert attention from himself by pointing to the past and to the future – blaming the fourth prime minister who resigned in 2003 and the 22-month Pakatan Government from May 2018 to February 2020. – Aug 13, 2022
Lim Kit Siang is the Iskandar Puteri MP, DAP supremo and a veteran lawmaker.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
Main photo credit: TIME
