Boustead Welcomes Pac Report Claims Transformation Underway

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Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNS) today "welcomed" the report by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on the littoral combat ship (LCS) project and promised to cooperate with the authorities.
"We appreciate the findings as well as the recommendations given by the PAC in the report.
"We will continue to engage with all the relevant stakeholders as we believe and embrace transparency," said BNS in a statement today.
The crux of the PAC report was that BNS was supposed to have delivered five LCS by this month. However, none has been delivered.
The PAC also deduced that the project was "contractor-driven" and the design was chosen by them and not the end-user, which is the Royal Malaysian Navy.
Despite protests from the navy, the Defence Ministry, then headed by Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, greenlit the project.
Former navy chief admiral Abdul Aziz Jaafar told the PAC that he wrote five letters to Zahid and two letters to then prime minister Najib Abdul Razak to protest against the decision.
It is to note that none of the concerns raised by the PAC were addressed in the BNS statement.
Meanwhile, BNS said it was undergoing a transformation programme which will see organisational restructuring, recruitment of new talents and calibrating existing resources.
"Our priority now is to beef up the strength of our navy to safeguard the national waters while ensuring that the well-being and interest of all stakeholders of this project are protected," said BNS.
BNS was awarded the RM9 billion contract in 2011. Slightly over RM6 billion has been drawn down.
The PAC had recommended that the MACC conduct investigations based on their findings and that of the Special Committee on Governance Investigation, Government Procurement and Finance (JKSTUPKK) and National Audit Department.
The PAC also recommended that the government declassify the JKSTUPKK report. - Mkini

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