A GROUP has planned a street protest this Sunday at the Kuala Lumpur city centre to demand action from the government over the RM9 billion scandal-plagued littoral combat ships (LCSs) project. 

Calling itself Jawatankuasa Protes Mana Kapal LCS (Where are the LCS vessels protest task force), the group has put forth three demands to the government and are urging them to fulfil it. 

“The demands are to investigate the whereabouts of the ships and form a royal commission of inquiry (RCI), calling for current defence minister Hishammuddin Hussein to resign for failing to take responsibility on the project and to respond to the complaints made by then navy commander Abdul Aziz Jaafar on the purchase of the ships,” they said in a statement today. 

The group said that public has the right to get a transparent and accountable answer from the government to ensure that there will be no more misuse of public funds. 

They also called on all political party leaders, non-governmental organisations and also representatives of civil society to join the protest.

The LCS project is the largest procurement in the history of the ministry, at a total cost of RM9 billion. 

Last week, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) released its report on the ministry’s purchase of LCSs from Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd through direct negotiations. 

Although the government has already paid RM6.08 billion for the cost of the project, none of the ships have been delivered. 

According to the original schedule, five LCSs should have been delivered to the ministry by this month.  

Yesterday, Ismail said the report of a special committee convened by the former Pakatan Harapan administration to investigate the LCS contract will be made public.

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

The cabinet also proposed declassifying a 2019 forensic audit report of the contract, subject to the advice and views of the attorney-general and the auditor-general.

The cabinet also decided to order the MACC and AGC to finalise their investigations and commence prosecutions. – August 11, 2022.