Lumut: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is set to visit the Lumut site on January 30 to evaluate the progress of the Royal Malaysian Navy's Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) construction project, following earlier proceedings related to the initiative.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, PAC chairman Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin stated that the visit is intended to provide the committee with a firsthand view of the project's progress and to assess the information and reports previously received.
Mas Ermieyati emphasized that the PAC regularly monitors the construction status and that this visit will be the committee's third to the project site. She mentioned that while reports may appear satisfactory on paper, seeing the project's status in person allows for more accurate insights, which will be incorporated into future proceedings. The date for these proceedings is yet to be determined.
She made these comments following the opening ceremony of the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee Conference with State Public Accounts Committees across the nation. The event also saw the presence of Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul and Malaysian Parliament chief administrator Datuk Dr Ahmad Husaiuni Abdul Rahman.
Mas Ermieyati explained that a follow-up visit was previously postponed due to technical issues, time constraints, and specific project deadlines that required resolution. In February 2024, BERNAMA reported that the PAC had voiced concerns over ongoing delays in the LCS project. By December 2023, the project lagged by 86 days, completing only 67.28 percent of the work against the Defence Ministry's revised timeline of 68.77 percent.
The PAC's primary concerns include the unfinished detailed design of the vessels, which is expected to be completed by the Defence Ministry in collaboration with the French company Naval Group, responsible for the ship designs. Additionally, the project's contractor, Boustead Naval Shipyard, was rebranded as Lumut Naval Shipyard (LUNAS) following its acquisition by Ocean Sunshine Bhd, a company owned by the Minister of Finance Incorporated, on August 18, 2023.