GELANG PATAH, Aug 18 – Member of Parliament for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang has called on Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein to explain why his ministry has now reduced from two to one littoral combatant ship (LCS) that should be completed and delivered with no additional government funds.
“When Hishammuddin appeared before the Public Accounts Committee on 25th January 2022, he spoke about “corporate restructuring” of the RM9 billion LCS contract and that the contractor, Boustead Naval Shipyard, will have to deliver two LCS without any new cost to the government,” Kit Siang said in a statement today.
On Wednesday, Hishammuddin said that the ongoing construction of the first littoral combatant ship (LCS 1) will not involve new allocations from the government and that additional allocations for Boustead Naval Shipyard (BNS) to complete the remaining five LCS will only be considered after completion of LCS 1 in reportedly another two years.
In January this year, Hishammuddin had said that BNS will not get any more money from the government until two ships are delivered, so why in three short months, this has been reduced to one LCS, Kit Siang asked.
–WE