LANGKAWI, May 26 — The Finance Ministry (MoF) has established a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to take over the company responsible for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) construction project, Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNS) as a subsidiary.

Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said the LCS project will still be monitored by the Project Monitoring Committee (PMC) jointly chaired by the Treasury secretary-general and the Defence Ministry (Mindef) secretary-general.

“In addition, periodic reports to the Cabinet will be prepared in accordance to the conditions set by the Auditor-General and periodic reporting to the Parliament through the Public Account Committe (PAC) will be done at least once every three months to ensure that the project can be monitored by all parties.

“This is necessary for us to achieve our intentions to continue the construction of the LCS as required by the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) and the Malaysian Armed Forces,” he told reporters after the signing of the sixth additional contract between Mindef and BNS today.

The LCS project erupted in controversy after the PAC revealed that not a single ship had been completed even though the government had paid BNS RM6.083 billion.

Mohamad added that the PAC was welcome to monitor the progress of the ship construction, adding that the committee would receive reports based on their schedule and they could take a look and make a report to the Parliament if they were unsatisfied.

The PAC had suggested previously to hold new proceedings on the project’s progress, which would begin as soon as the Dewan Rakyat approved the appointment of PAC members at the second parliamentary session that began on May 22.

He also said that the government had agreed to continue with the Second-Generation Patrol Vessel (SGPV) procurement for the navy and the navy, along with Mindef and BNS would put their full focus on ensuring that the LCS project was successful.

“The procurement is vital to boost our armada’s capabilities in line with the RMN 15 to 5 Transformation Plan to preserve the sovereignty of our country’s waters,” he added. — Bernama