LCS project: Check and balance mechanism needed
SHAH ALAM - The issue involving the misappropriation of funds in the littoral combat ships (LCS) project should be taken as a lesson by the government in implementing a better check and balance mechanism.
Defence and geostrategic analyst Muhammad Fuad Mat Noor said the government needed to ensure that the implementation schedule of a project was in line with the payment made.
"If we look at the LCS issue, the amount involved was too big. RM6 billion had been spent, but not a single ship has been completed.
"So, in terms of finance, the main thing is how the approval was released when works have yet to complete. That is our main weakness," he told Sinar Harian on Thursday.
Fuad said any project management company must have a check and balance system, but this was not the case with the LCS project.
"Many parties are looking at the weaknesses and shortcomings in the project, however, I feel that we have not made a detailed analysis of the financial flow of the project.
“According to the normal procedures, the amount paid in the project must match the work that has been carried out," he said.
He said the check and balance mechanism played a crucial role especially for big projects such as LCS because it monitored payment activities to the company and made based on the work progress.
"For example, the Finance Ministry paid RM1 million, so the people and the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) can refer to the check and balance committee for the project.
"They must also be informed where the RM 1 million had gone to," he said.
He explained that the people and RMN would have been satisfied if they were informed clearly regarding the development of a project especially from a financial management standpoint.
"We see that it is as if the check and balance process does not exist. I think RMN will not agree with the payment of RM6 billion, however, at the same time they can't even complete a single ship.
"But the problem is that they are not the ones holding the funds," he said.
