KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 23 — The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) plans to conduct a site visit to Lumut on January 30 to assess the progress of the Royal Malaysian Navy’s (RMN) Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) project, following earlier proceedings related to the endeavour.
PAC chair Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin said the visit aims to allow the committee to see the project’s actual progress and assess information and reports previously received.
She said the PAC monitors the construction of the vessels periodically, and that the visit will be the committee’s third one to the site.
“On paper, the reports we receive may look good, but when we go up and see for ourselves, that information will be brought into the proceedings, the date of which we will determine later,” she told reporters.
Mas Ermieyati was met after the opening ceremony of the Parliamentary PAC Conference with state PACs here today.
Also present were Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul and Parliament chief administrator Datuk Ahmad Husaini Abdul Rahman.
Mas Ermieyati added that the PAC previously postponed a follow-up visit due to technical matters and consideration for time constraints and project deadlines.
In February 2024, Bernama reported that the PAC had expressed concern over continued delays in the LCS project. As of December 2023, the project was 86 days behind schedule, at only 67.28 per cent progress compared with the revised timeline set by the Defence Ministry (MINDEF) of 68.77 per cent.
The PAC’s main concerns involved the detailed design of the vessels, which has yet to be finalised by MINDEF and French company Naval Group.
In a related development, project contractor Boustead Naval Shipyard was renamed to Lumut Naval Shipyard (LUNAS) after it was taken over by Ocean Sunshine Bhd, a company owned by Minister of Finance (Incorporated), on August 18, 2023.
