KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 27): There seems to be more than meets the eye at the RM9.13 billion littoral combat ship (LCS) contract fiasco, which involves Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNS) and the Royal Malaysian Navy, among others.

BNS was awarded the huge contract to build six ships in 2011 by the Government and was slated to deliver the vessels on a staggered basis from April 2019 to 2023. However to date, one ship is 44% completed and four others are at between 16% to 35% completion, and absolutely no work is rendered on another. In a nutshell, BNS has failed to live up to its mandate, and adding salt to the injury is the Government having forked out RM6.08 billion or 66.59% of the total costs, with nothing to show for it.

With the issues stacked up, Tan Sri Ahmad Ramli Mohd Nor, who was previously BNS managing director, was charged with three counts of criminal breach of trust of funds amounting to RM21.08 million earlier this month. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The RM21.08 million is only 0.23% of the total costs of RM9.13 billion and pales in comparison to what declassified documents — a report from the Special Committee on Governance Investigation, Government Procurement and Finance on the LCS project chaired by former auditor general Tan Sri Ambrin Buang and the forensic audit done by Alliance IFA — revealed. The documents indicated that the costs for building the six ships had ballooned by a 22% quantum to RM11.14 billion and resulted in potential losses of RM890.22 million to Boustead Heavy Industries Corp Bhd, among a whole host of other adverse findings.

Will the buck stop at 79-year-old Ahmad Ramli? Did he have any political masters? What about another name that frequently crops up in the reports — Anuar Murad? Will he be charged?

Why didn’t the Public Accounts Committee interview Ahmad Ramli and Anuar Murad? The Edge looks at some of the unanswered questions and looks to piece things together at the RM9.13 billion debacle.          

The sidebars to the main story look at defence spending over the last few years, other shenanigans involving the defence sector, and how BNS — although it is a strategic asset with the Minister of Finance Inc having a golden share — has not delivered on its contracts in more ways than one.  

Read more about it in The Edge Malaysia weekly’s Aug 29 edition.

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