KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 22 — The Defence Ministry (Mindef) will refer to the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) regarding the International Settlement Agreement over the construction of littoral combat ship (LCS).
Its minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said this after the third party asked the government to sign a letter of indemnity as a condition before they signed the International Settlement Agreement.
He said the letter was to enable the party to be released from all responsibilities or blame should any mitigation factors occur in the future.
“It (the indemnity letter) is an issue that we are very reluctant to sign. We will refer to AGC to get advice on the caveat they placed for them to agree to sign the International Settlement Agreement.
“But the ministry did not agree (to sign the letter of indemnity), because for us whoever is convicted (guilty) is convicted,” Mohamad said when winding up the debate on motion of thanks for the royal address on the ministry at Dewan Rakyat today.
The decision to drop the involvement of third parties in the construction of LCS was made by the previous government, in line with the recommendations of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
Regarding the decision to reduce the number of LCS procurement from six to five ships, he said the details of the decision would be presented to the Cabinet soon.
Although the decision to reduce the acquisition of the ship was made by the previous government, there is a need for Mindef to bring back the decision to be examined by the new Cabinet.
Besides, Mohamad said that all investigations related to the LCS issue are still continuing apart from the construction process and completion of the first ship continuing as usual.
“The paper regarding the direction of LCS procurement was sent to the Cabinet of the previous government four times, and it was agreed that this project should continue and even need to be accelerated.
“The longer we wait, the more vulnerable the country’s defence situation will be (to threats) due to the loss of our assets,” he said.
— Bernama
