KUALA LUMPUR: Those who are guilty, will remain guilty, says Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein over the multi-billion-ringgit Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) project which is being investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
"The MACC investigations are still ongoing and this means those involved in wrongdoings in the project prior, will not be simply let off.
"I am consistent that whoever is guilty, remains guilty,” said the Defence Minister in a press statement on Thursday (Aug 4).
The statement was in response to the Parliament’s Public Account Committee’s (PAC) 250-page report on the LCS project which was tabled in Dewan Rakyat on Thursday.
The two-year probe by PAC revealed that some RM1.4bil in government allocation for the project undertaken by Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNS) to build six LCS was used for other purposes including cost overruns.
The RM9bil project was inked with BNS in 2014 but no ships had been delivered.
Work on five ships is currently at various stages while work on another has yet to begin.
In November 2020, BNS’ parent company Boustead Heavy Industries Corporation Bhd (BHIC) lodged a report with the MACC on the possibility of irregularities concerning the project.
Several individuals had since been arrested by the MACC including a former top BHIC official.
Hishammuddin also acknowledged PAC’s recommendation that the MACC speed up investigations and prosecution.
"Whoever is guilty will face justice.
“The ministry had given its cooperation to the MACC during their investigations,” he said.
On July 27, Deputy Defence Minister Datuk Seri Ikmal Hisham Abdul Aziz told Dewan Rakyat that the MACC has wrapped up investigations into the scandal and has submitted recommendations to the Attorney General Chambers for follow up action.
Meanwhile, Hishammuddin said the ministry and stakeholders would take into consideration the PAC recommendations on the continuation of the project which the government had agreed to proceed.
He also noted that several oversight committees were set up in April to revive the project within the next six months and submit a progress report to the Cabinet.
