Protesters gather in KL, demand answers for LCS project
KUALA LUMPUR – About 100 protesters gathered near a shopping mall here from today to demand answers on the updates of the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) project.
The group who called themselves ‘Turun Movement’ had gathered at about 2pm and demanded the government to probe the condition of the ships and also urged Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein to step down from his position.
At the rally, they were seen carrying placards, banners and black flags which stated 'H20 Letak Jawatan' and ‘Jawab Surat Panglima TLDM'.
The protesters also showed placards that read RM6 billion gone but never forgotten', 'Tangkap Najib', 'Cash is King and King is Rakyat' and more.
The protest was hosted by Turun Malaysia committee member Amir Abdul Hadi who expressed his utmost disappointment and urged Hishammuddin to resign from his position as the LCS project failed to produce at its best.
"LCS issue is a national security threat. We should push away leaders who are at the top, using the people's money.
"We gather today not to fight but to voice out as we are the administrators and we are the people who should rule this country,” he urged.
Amir also advised the public to not fall into the trap of the images of the incomplete ship from a media site visit in Lumut, Perak yesterday.
Also present at the protest was Muda president Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman who urged the responsible parties to address the LCS issue.
"The fate of the people is at stake because of corruption in the country at the highest level.
"This is the biggest betrayal in our beloved country.
"This is not a small issue. RM6 billion has been spent, not a single ship has been completed yet," he said.
Meanwhile, Selangor Amanah Youth Chief Abbas Azmi insisted the public to use their power to fight back against corruption in the country.
"We don't trust them (ministers) anymore. We take LCS issues to the streets despite the rain or sun because we have political awareness that pushes away the ministers involved from Putrajaya.
"We make sure in the next general election, we lure these animals (ministers involved) out of Putrajaya and defeat them," he said.
Commenting further, Muda information chief Luqman Long described what Malaysians or the government could have done with RM6 billion.
"The amount can be used to build 243 schools, 100,000 houses, provide free food for 200,000 students for 64 years and more.
"Supposedly five out of six ships should have been completed in 2022. It's disappointing to see the outcome of the project," he stressed.
No matter rain or shine, the crowd continued pushing through in hopes of their demands to be noticed before they dispersed at 3pm.
The LCS project stole the spotlight when Public Accounts Committee (PAC) revealed that about RM6 billion had been spent, yet not a single ship had been completed or delivered when five ships should be ready by August 2022.
Former navy commander Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Jaafar during a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) proceeding on July 29, 2021 had said that he had alerted top government officials on numerous occasions of possible problems emerging from the LCS procurement process but it went unaddressed.
Yesterday, Boustead Naval Shipyard who were awarded the LCS project took 48 media practitioners to the construction site in Lumut to prove that works were underway to complete the ships.
The first ship had shown development of up to 60 per cent, the second ship (LCS 2) reached 48 per cent, LCS 3 (43 per cent), LCS 4 (36 per cent) and LCS 5 (22 per cent).
