LUMUT: The opposition's attempt to play up the delay in the completion of the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) project in their political talks proves that they have failed.
Caretaker Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said the opposition was not able to solve the LCS issue when they ran the country for 22 months.
"They have been playing up this issue for so long, but their plans have not worked. They are hoping that this LCS issue will make the people hate the government, just like the 1MDB (1Malaysia Development Bhd) case, and their political purpose is to demonise or to attack individual leadership in the government.
"But when we take proactive measures, at least we tabled it to the people, our plan... our intention is to save this LCS project, which is highly needed by the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN).
"I would like to ask them, for the 22 months they ran the country, what did they do for the LCS? It is easy for them to keep pointing fingers," he told reporters after visiting KD Panglima Garang, a special training centre for RMN's Special Warfare Forces (Paskal) here, today.
He said that the government had presented to the people its plans to save the project which involves many stakeholders.
"They are playing this issue up on their TikTok and other social media accounts. But what I have presented to the people is our plan to save the project which involves many stakeholders such as the Finance Ministry, Economic Planning Unit, RMN, Boustead Naval Shipyard, Defence Ministry as well as Naval Group in France and the French government.
"If they can show me that they can do better than me, like what have I done today for the project, then they can raise this matter as an issue. If not, it just merely political talk," he said.
On the LCS project, Hishammuddin said a six-month mobilisation phase that would end at the end of December shows a very positive development.
"Negotiations with OEMs (original equipment manufacturing) and vendors have been completed; negotiations with the bank went smoothly.
"The French government has also submitted a written commitment to me stating their full support for the LCS project to continue," he said.
On Oct 2, Hishammuddin said the ministry is in the midst of removing middlemen involved in the LCS project to reduce the cost of the vessels.
He had said this would enable Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNSSB) to negotiate directly with local vendors and OEMs.