KUALA LUMPUR: There is no choice but to complete the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) project as RM6bil has already been spent on it, says Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The Prime Minister said that there were ongoing projects that the government had no other option but to see through to the end, including the LCS.
"There are ongoing projects that must be completed including the LCS.
"We have no choice, we have spent RM6bil so we can't close it, we must take over to finish the project," he told reporters after launching the Kuala Lumpur International Book Festival at the World Trade Centre here on Saturday (May 27).
Anwar, who is also Finance Minister, had been asked to respond to the statement by Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan that the Finance Ministry had established a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to take over the company responsible for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) construction project, Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNS) as a subsidiary.
Anwar added that a full statement on the matter would be issued soon.
The LCS project erupted in controversy in August last year after the Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) revealed that not a single ship had been completed even though the government had paid BNS RM6.083bil.
Meanwhile, Mohamad had said the LCS project would be monitored by the Project Monitoring Committee (PMC) jointly chaired by the Treasury secretary-general and the Defence Ministry (Mindef) secretary-general.
Mohamad also said the PAC was welcome to monitor the progress of the ship construction, adding that the committee would receive reports based on their schedule and they could take a look and make a report to the Parliament if they were unsatisfied.
