LCS scandal: They don’t mind being labelled as traitors as long as they can be rich - Mukhriz

SHAH ALAM - Pejuang president Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir said those involved in the scandal on the acquisition of six littoral combat ships (LCS) do not care if they are being called “traitors” of the country as long as they can enrich themselves.

In fact, he said those involved only cared about their personal interest and completely disregarded the importance of prioritising the national sovereignty.

"The world views us with disgust as we are seen as a corrupt country. Being labelled as “traitors” is nothing compared to the threat against national security and sovereignty to those who are blinded by greed.

"If the LCS procurement process is carried out according to the procedures set by the government, this kind of leakage would not have happened.

"However, when personal interest outweighs public interest, a big problem like this arises. It is impossible for RM6.083 billion to be spent without seeing any results if there were no leakages,” he told Sinar Premium on Wednesday.

On Aug 4, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) announced its nine findings on the cause of the RM9 billion LCS project failure.

Through the report, the government had already paid RM6.083 billion for the project of five LCS ships to Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNS) for the direct negotiation project, but no ships have been received so far.

The PAC report also revealed that BNS did not fully utilise the payment received from the government for the project, causing the company to face a “cost overrun” of RM1.4005 billion.

In addition, the Defence Ministry (Mindef) and BNS were also found to have ignored the Royal Malaysian Navy’s (RMN) recommendations as the end user.

Commenting further, the former Kedah Menteri Besar said those involved in the acquisition of six LCS borne the responsibility to always prioritise the interest of the country in terms of the effectiveness of the equipment in meeting the needs of the maritime defence, optimal expenditure and positive impact on the local defence industry.

"However, the LCS project had failed in all aspects. The public’s impression is that this case was not caused by negligence but by malpractice," he said.

Mukhriz did not rule out the possibility of political interference in the leakages for personal gain.

“Generally, people know that the Umno leadership administering the government at the time was involved in various embezzlement scandals such as 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), SRC International Sdn Bhd, Yayasan Akal Budi, solar hybrid project for schools in rural areas in Sarawak, Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV) and Tabung Haji showing the trend that they do not hesitate to abuse their power to enrich themselves.

"Then, it is not strange if there is an impression that the LCS case also involved misappropriation involving the same party," he said.

In addition, he also expressed disappointment when the 10 letters of reprimand and dissatisfaction of former RMN chief Tan Sri Dr Abdul Aziz Jaafar regarding the LCS project procurement procedures were ignored by the ministry and BNS.

"Indeed it is his responsibility as the Navy Commander representing RMN at that time to recommend the specifications of ships and weapons that meet the purpose of the procurement.

"Of course when his recommendations were ignored and even the important decisions were made by the government and vendors, RMN was dissatisfied.

"His action to send a letter to all the superiors involved was right and according to the procedure. However, none of his complaints were entertained and as a result, today, not a single LCS ship has been built," he said.

He added that with PAC’s revelation, the security of the country's waters could be affected and put the country's sovereignty at risk.

"We read a report that Singapore had successfully built eight littoral mission vessels (LMV) within seven years but during the same period, Malaysia spent over RM6 billion without having build a single vessel.

"Obviously, the procurement process of naval vessels takes a long time. Once it is problematic, the effects are very long and we should already have LCS to patrol the waters by now but because of this scandal, our waters are not controlled at the level that was planned more than nine years ago," he said.

Despite the scandal, Mukhriz said because the government had spent so much money, the LCS project must be continued with the condition that the ceiling price would not go beyond RM9.0 billion and all six ships were completed within a fixed period.

"In my view, RM9.0 billion is a high amount for six ships. It is very likely that Singapore did not spend that amount to build their eight LMV ships either.

"Therefore, the government should not spend more money to complete this project. If there is a need for additional funds, the vendor should bear the cost because it does not meet the state's requirements," he said.

He said, in the future, an international open tender to select a shipyard should be made similar to what was done for the procurement of the Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPV).

"Shipyards abroad that are selected can be matched with our local shipyards to meet the country's shipping demands. Avoid the direct negotiation approach as what was done for this LCS," he said.

The cabinet on Wednesday urged the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to speed up the investigation into the LCS project.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the cabinet meeting also suggested that the Forensic Auditing Report of the LCS project carried out in 2019 be declassified on the condition made by the Attorney-General and Auditor-General first.

He also assured that the investigation regarding the issue will be carried out transparently and even the government will not protect anyone involved.

Ismail Sabri said if there was solid evidence, the Attorney-General will be asked to prosecute and bring those who were responsible to face justice.

The Prime Minister also said the cabinet meeting also decided that the report by the Special Committee on Governance Investigation Government Procurement and Finance (JKSTUPKK) which was chaired by former Auditor General Tan Sri Ambrin Buang was allowed to be released to the public.