Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein wants to know if wrongdoers involved in the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) project will be charged in court.

The former defence minister said that besides himself, many including from the Navy, Defence Ministry and members of the public wanted to know the status of the LCS project.

"Is the time frame to compete the construction of the LCS 1 within a year or two stilll being maintained or otherwise?

"Will those who are wrong and under investigation be brought to face justice?" he asked when debating the motion of thanks on the Royal Address in Dewan Rakyat on Monday (Feb 20).

He noted that those who were once critical of the project wanted it to continue now.

"Those that had previously raised the issue are now the members of the government.

"They too now want the LCS procurement to continue," he said.

The multi-billion LCS project, which was signed in 2014, was to have seen six ships built and delivered in stages to the navy by 2019.

However, none of the ships were completed.

In August last year, the Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee revealed that some RM1.4bil in government allocations for the project had been diverted for other purposes.

Following this, former Navy chief Tan Sri Ahmad Ramli Mohd Nor, 78, was charged with three counts of criminal breach of trust involving RM21.08mil at the Sessions Court here.

On Oct 2 last year, Hishammuddin said the construction of the LCS project would resume as soon as negotiations ended in December 2022.

Earlier on Monday (Feb 20), Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan informed Dewan Rakyat that a target has been fixed to see a ship in Malaysian waters by July next year.

Mohamad said his priority was to see the ships completed and sailing in Malaysian waters rather than the legal or criminal issues behind it.

He said that he intends to see at least four of ships out of the six completed during his tenure.

Source:
courtesy of THE STAR

by MARTIN CARVALHO, RAHIMY RAHIM and TARRENCE TAN

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