THE report of a special committee formed by the Pakatan Harapan administration to investigate the procurement of littoral combat ships (LCSs) will be made public, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said.

The cabinet made the decision in its weekly meeting today, the prime minister said.

The cabinet also proposed that the forensic audit report of the procurement project conducted in 2019 be declassified, subject to the advice and views of the attorney-general and the auditor-general.

“The cabinet meeting made a decision that the Report of the Government Governance, Procurement and Finance Investigation Committee chaired by former auditor-general Ambrin Buang be made public.

“The cabinet also proposed that the forensic auditing report of the project conducted in 2019 be declassified, subject to the advice and views of the attorney-general and auditor-general.

“The cabinet’s decision today will not interfere with the cabinet’s recovery plan,” the prime minister said in a statement.

The cabinet also decided to order the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to finalise their investigations and prosecute the relevant persons. 

“I have called Attorney-General Idrus Harun and MACC chief Azam Baki after today’s cabinet meeting so that they can coordinate their actions,” said Ismail.

Malaysia was rocked again recently with the longstanding LCS issue back in the spotlight after the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) released its report on the failed project.

The report disclosed that it had held nine proceedings on the project starting on November 18, 2020, and the last one on March 8 this year, by calling several witnesses.

Proceedings found that the contract was awarded to Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd via direct negotiations, with the government paying RM6.08 billion but not even one LCS has been delivered.

According to the original schedule, five ships should have been ready and handed over by this month.

The project was started under the Najib Razak administration. The defence minister at the time was Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is the Umno president now.

In an immediate reaction, PAC chairman Wong Kah Woh welcomed today’s cabinet decision, which adopted two of its recommendations. 

However, the Ipoh Barat MP reminded the government that the documents that were revealed to the public should be fully declassified and not partially protected on the grounds of “protecting the government’s interests”. – August 10, 2022.