At the top right of the letter, handwritten words “SUB perolehan, sila laksanakan (Under secretary of procurement division, please execute)” can be seen, followed by Ahmad Zahid’s signature and name stamp.
In the PAC report earlier, it was revealed by the deputy chief secretary of the special investigation committee Guna Arulalan David that the Royal Malaysian Navy had agreed and wanted the Sigma LCS design from the Netherlands for its ships, and was agreed on by the Defence Ministry’s higher management and then defence minister.
In an excerpt from the PAC proceedings dated Dec 1, 2020, Mr Guna Arulalan said the committee found that on May 26, 2011, Ahmad Zahid had agreed to the Sigma design and the TACTICOS combat management system from France’s Thales Group.
“But in the same year, on Jul 11, 2011, Ahmad Zahid agreed again to select the Gowind design. On Sep 26, 2011, agreed (sic) for the change in combat management system from the original to SETIS.” The Gowind design is from France.
“The French SETIS was also on the recommendation of BNS,” Mr Guna Arulalan told the parliamentary committee.
He also informed the PAC that the navy had not agreed to the proposal, but was forced to accept as the decision had been made by the ministry’s higher management.
Former prime minister Najib Razak, who was Ahmad Zahid’s predecessor at the defence portfolio, was also linked to the scandal.
The declassified investigating committee report showed that Boustead Naval Shipyard had applied to the government’s Economic Planning Unit (EPU) to carry out the construction of the six ships. It stated in a letter that discussions had been held with then-defence minister Najib at his office in October 2007.
The EPU replied in a letter saying that there were no obstructions in principle for the defence minister to start negotiation with BNS on the matter of the ships’ procurement.
On Jan 15, 2008, Najib, as defence minister at that time, requested for the Finance Ministry’s approval to issue a letter of intent to BNS.
The investigating committee noted subsequent interactions between BNS and Najib, who was finance minister in 2009, over both the LCS project and another Next Generation Patrol Vessel project.
