Mindef ready to submit LCS progress report every three months - Adly

KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of Defence (Mindef) has agreed with the recommendation of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to submit a progress report on the Royal Malaysian Navy's (RMN) littoral combat ship (LCS) second generation patrol vessel project every three months until the LCS project is completed.

Deputy Defence Minister Adly Zahari said the ministry has been channeling information based on all committees formed and there is no problem with information not being shared with the PAC.

"Each committee has its meeting period and during that period, all committees can call any party to get information and the PAC can take note of any information from the respective committee," he said at a media conference after attending the 2023 Defence Innovation Final Competition here, today.

PAC, in a recent report, submitted five improvement recommendations, including the requirement for MINDEF to present a progress report on the LCS project every three months, until the LCS project is completed, including a progress report in line with the international project management standards.

The report said in addition to the PAC, namely the Technical Committee at the project team level, and the project management review (PMR), which is the project's technical team at the Mindef level.

In addition, there is a Working Committee, chaired by the deputy secretary-general (Development) of Mindef, and the Project Monitoring Committee (PMC), jointly chaired by the secretary-general of Mindef and the secretary-general of the Treasury.

The construction of the LCS ships was embroiled in controversy when PAC revealed that not a single ship had been completed, despite the government having paid RM6.08 billion to Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNS).

-- BERNAMA