KUALA LUMPUR: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will table the progress report on the littoral combat ship (LCS) project in the first week of the October meeting of the Dewan Rakyat.
Its chairman Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin said the committee has finalised the report on the embattled project’s progress for the period of October last year to May this year.
The PAC would also table another report related to the concession of the Paddy and Rice Industry which was under the Agriculture and Food Security Ministry.
"Both reports are expected to be tabled in the first week of the third meeting of the 15th Parliament 2023," she told a press conference in Parliament on Thursday (Sept 14).
The PAC had recommended in its report tabled on Aug 4 last year that the Defence Ministry would have to provide a quarterly update on the status of the combat ships.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said on May 27 that the government had to complete the project as RM6bil had already been spent on it.
The Finance Ministry has also taken over the company responsible for the project, Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNS), via a special-purpose vehicle (SPV).
In a Bursa Malaysia filing on May 26, Boustead Heavy Industries Corporation Bhd (BHIC) said BNS and the Defence Ministry had signed a sixth supplemental contract.
According to the filing, the number of vessels had been cut down from six to five, and the cost revised from RM9bil to RM11.2bil, due to changes in specifications and extension of time, among others.
The duration of the contract would be extended with the first vessel to be delivered, fully tested and trialled, in August 2026 and the fifth vessel in April 2029.
