Since name quoted in the past, PAC summons Wee for explanation

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will summon former transport minister Wee Ka Siong for the fourth proceedings into the management of the Covid-19 pandemic as his name was mentioned in the previous proceedings.

Without revealing further details, PAC chairperson Mas Ermieyati Samsudin said former Health Ministry secretary-general Chen Chaw Min was also called for the proceedings.

"PAC needs evidence and explanation from Wee (above) since his name was mentioned in the previous proceedings and to be fair to him, the PAC listened to Wee's explanation.

"But I will not disclose for what reason since the PAC proceedings are subject to Meeting Rule 85 of the Dewan Rakyat Meeting Rules.

"The meeting summons to these witnesses will be issued today, and I request that the witnesses be present to help the PAC complete the investigation into this issue," she said in a press conference at the Parliament lobby today.

Among other things, the proceedings examined related cases of expired vaccines, unusable ventilator equipment and excess supply of personal protective equipment.

The fourth proceedings will be held on Sept 21.

LCS issue

Meanwhile, Mas Ermieyati provided updates on several other proceedings, among them related to the LCS second-generation patrol ship projects for the navy under the Defence Ministry.

"The PAC will call the Defence Ministry on Oct 3 to get an explanation regarding the progress of the LCS construction project for June to August 2023.

"Previously on June 10, the PAC heard the development regarding the LCS project for the period from October 2022 to May 2023," she said.

Every three months, the PAC will get a briefing from the Defence Ministry regarding the progress of the project.

Boustead Naval Shipyard (BNS) was supposed to deliver one of the six LCSs in 2019. However, none have been delivered to date.

In 2022, the PAC issued its first report on the project, detailing how the project fell short of navy specifications and ran into cost overruns.

However, the administration of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim took a solution to the problem by taking over BNS and reducing the number of LCS ordered to five.

BNS now has to report the progress of the project to the PAC every quarter.

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