YOURSAY | ‘This amounts to treason as country's national security is at stake.’

Admiral tells PAC of fighting 'losing battle' with contractor over LCS

Kilimanjaro: This should have been the job of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) but it is the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) which did an exemplary job. The number of "scandals" is not just disheartening - it makes one feel like leeches sucking the blood of the ordinary person.

This shows Najib Abdul Razak was a useless prime minister and finance minister. For former deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to pass the blame on to others shows a lack of appreciation for his then job as defence minister. He doesn't even understand where the buck stops.

PKR president Anwar Ibrahim believes that there may be a heavy dose of corruption and hopes the MACC doesn't pass it up as a mere "perception".

MACC has power far beyond that of the PM and ministers in matters of investigating corruption. It failed us miserably in the 1MDB scandal and now, the littoral combat ship (LCS) scandal.

BlackEagle8414: There are some glaring inconsistencies in this LCS issue:

1. The contractor Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNS), which is supposedly headed by a very experienced ex-admiral, decided the design switch, not the technical team within the Navy. Ludicrous!

2. More than 60 percent of the original cost for the six LCS was paid out before even a single vessel was completed. This goes against basic project management milestone payments methodology. This is similar to the Sabah Gas Pipeline Project while it was under construction by the Chinese company.

3. Billions of ringgit are now unaccounted for.

4. The cabinet greenlighted the continuation of the project with additional billions on the table for BNS.

Where is the accountability? There should be a royal commission of inquiry with prosecution to follow for all those involved for incompetency/negligence, and where applicable, for corruption.

OCT: Anything that could have gone wrong in the LCS project has gone wrong. A project that was needed by the Navy was highjacked by the politicians.

This shows if the PM and DPM colluded to cheat the government, nobody can stop it. When corruption was exposed, both of them claimed ignorance.

The government has no qualms to send a woman to jail for stealing Milo for her children but reluctant to send any VVIP to jail for corruption.

This LCS fiasco may end up as the same as other scandals where corruption was proven but nobody made responsible and/or accountable and sent to jail.

Dr Raman Letchumanan: Even national security is not beyond the reach of politicians and businessmen. This scandal exposes the sordid affairs of our national security systems and preparedness.

Earlier, the submarines purchase was mired in corruption, and security officers sentenced for a related murder.

We are just a sitting lame duck for any foreign enemy.

I think this is treason of the first order. As a first step, all those involved should be isolated from managing this highly-sensitive project any further.

YellowGecko9040: I am not surprised. Almost all government projects do not fulfil end-user needs or requirements. Hospitals and their upgrades are another example of this.

Ask for specific things and either get something not related to it at all or get markedly inferior items that cannot do the job or break down easily with non-existent after-sales service leading to more downtime and the need to find alternate sources for that service.

What happened to Cyberjaya Hospital? Money was spent like an open tap. Suddenly, there is not enough humanpower to run the hospital.

Now, talk is that Sunway Group is going to buy over the hospital at a discounted rate. Why do these fools keep wasting our taxpayers’ money?

Koel: How many more times are Malaysians going to read about the billion-dollar losses incurred by these two villains (Najib and Zahid) with their occasional sidekick?

The mind boggles at these losses. Exactly what are the total losses lost by the country in the period they were apparently running the country? And what action can anyone take now that all of this further information is emerging?

KS Lim: This is brazen corruption - the project went on despite the Navy chief's objection.

Zahid had the audacity to tell the PAC inquiry, “The BNS executive chairperson is a former Navy admiral. He is very knowledgeable about the needs of the end-user."

But he hid the fact that his own Navy chief of the time objected to the change. He knew that the BNS executive chairperson was no longer in the Navy, and he had received objections from his own Navy chief which he ignored.

Truth Will Always Prevail: If I want to renovate my house, I decide on the design, not the contractor. Even though the contractor has many years of experience, he cannot decide on how my house will be renovated.

He may suggest designs to me, but ultimately, I will decide on the final design. If he does not follow my design I will not pay.

This is basic knowledge. But some idiots don't know this. This is not stupidity, but this is corruption in the form of stupidity. This again must be investigated by MACC. But there is no hope it would be done properly.

Sun: It’s very encouraging to know there are admirals willing to put their views on record even if they know they will be ignored.

If more Malay leaders like then Navy chief Abdul Aziz Jaafar can emerge, our country will be saved. Contrast this to the ministers and other key civil servants who were silent when Najib and gang pillaged the country dry.

Only honest Malay leaders can save this great country. It’s a pity so few of them have stepped up.

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