‘Invisible’ ships a huge scandal

Despite the bad implications, PAC report shows the government is open and transparent.

LET’S call a spade a spade. The RM9.13bil Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) fiasco isn’t a mere controversy, but a scandal.

How does one explain the government paying RM6.08bil or 66.64% of the RM9.13bil contract for six vessels that haven’t even been completed?

It’s common sense for us ordinary folk not to offer a full advance payment to a contractor engaged for basic renovation work at our home. There’s such a thing as progressive payment.

The first LCS vessel was supposed to be delivered in April 2019, but only 44% of the work has been completed, while another four are reportedly only between 16% and 35% complete.

Naturally, no work has commenced on the sixth vessel, which is part of the paid package.

The LCS are small surface vessels designed for operating near the shore and ideal for guarding our lengthy coastal line. They are also agile surface combatants.

It’s commendable that the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) was entrusted with the investigations and has made public its 250-page report on the issues at Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd, the builder of these LCS.

By making the report public and receiving wide media coverage in the process, it means the Federal Government is open and transparent on this issue, even if the implications are bad.

Many Malaysians, who are already numb from the countless corruption cases, will likely just shrug and dismiss this as another day in paradise. Yes, welcome to Malaysia and have a nice day.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has been investigating this case, but these details from PAC should expedite the process of holding those culpable.

It is reassuring to hear from MACC chief Tan Sri Azam Baki that it was in its last stage of investigations into the case.

The PAC report has named the personalities, and while it could just boil down to plain gross mismanagement or incompetence, taxpayers deserve to know more, and beyond the document’s contents, too.

Tragically, the end user, the Royal Malaysian Navy, has been snubbed for its complaints and feedback.

At least 10 letters were reportedly sent to the highest levels by Navy Chief Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Jaafar, but they were unceremoniously ignored.

There have been calls to scrap the LCS project, but Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein has insisted on its completion, adding that over 400 vendors were depending on it to continue, with 90% of them involving Armed Forces veterans.

Certainly, the country needs these LCS vessels to safeguard the sovereignty and security of Malaysia, but the lesson here is about how these contracts are awarded in the first place.

There have been claims that the agreements were lopsided, and contracts awarded even before the detailed designs of the ships were firmed up.

Surely, we need to know why only a few people had so much power in the decision-making at Boustead Naval Shipyard, and whether the various divisions such as legal and finance had the ability to raise red flags, or if powerful forces stopped them.

Corporate governance, including accountability, seems to be non-existent at the company. It may not be a public-listed company but it was entrusted with the project involving a gargantuan sum and yet, it failed to deliver.

Malaysians deserve clarity and transparency, and not just from key figures at the company, but from their political bosses, too.

Any which way you slice it, the jokes going viral on social media about Malaysia spending RM9.13bil “building invisible ships” are not tickling the funny bone anymore.

It’s another blow to Malaysia’s image we could have done without.