KUALA LUMPUR, May 27 — The government has no choice but to take over the company responsible for the construction of the littoral combat ship (LCS), which is Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNS) so the project can be completed.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said this is because the government had spent RM6 billion on the LCS project.
“There are ongoing projects which we must complete including LCS. We have no choice after having spent RM6 billion. We cannot just close it down, we have to take over to complete the project,” he said when met by reporters after opening the Kuala Lumpur International Book Fair (KLIBF) 2023 at the World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur (WTCKL), earlier today.
He was commenting on the announcement of Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan on the Finance Ministry setting up a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to take over the company, BNS, which is responsible for the LCS project as a subsidiary of MOF.
However, Anwar said the government will be issuing a complete statement on the takeover of the company.
Earlier, the construction of LCS was embroiled in a controversy when the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) revealed that no units of LCS were completed even though the government had paid RM6.083 billion to BNS.
— Bernama
