The cost of procuring assets for the national defence inventory will not exceed ceiling prices set by the government, Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi says.

Therefore, Zahid said, irregularities in the procurement process would not occur unless the foreign exchange rates at which the purchase was made fluctuated, besides other associated factors.

lim guan eng submarine ride 091211 ahmad zahid"The ceiling price was set in the budget and all assets purchased, including littoral combat ships (LCS), usually will not exceed the ceiling price, unless foreign currencies appreciate.

"The cost may also escalate if changes are made to the specifications of the assets.

"However, it may be said that prices of all assets usually meet the ceiling set," Zahid told reporters after seeing off the departure of 16,885 National Service (NS) trainees of Group 1 Series 9/2012 at Wangsa Maju in Kuala Lumpur today.

He was commenting on Member of Parliament for Petaling Jaya Utara Tony Pua's claim that the price for the Second Generation Patrol Vessels - LCS - had gone up by billions of ringgit shortly after the tender to build the six vessels was awarded to Boustead Naval Shipyard.   
    
Zahid also denied that fraud had occurred in the purchase of defence assets, including LCS, and he was prepared to answer any question and allegation raised if Pua was brave enough to face him at the Ministry of Defence.

He also challenged Pua or any party with evidence of irregularities in the procurement of national defence assets to report it to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) by furnishing documents as evidence.

"I had invited Pua to join a submarine ride during the last Langkawi International Maritime and Air Exhibition (LIMA '11) but he turned it down. I suppose he only dares to crow and become a hero behind the curtain.

"When I answered his question in Parliament, he was not present to hear my reply, but continued to harp on the matter in political ceramah. He is brave only before the opposition crowd but chicken out when asked for a face-to-face meeting," Zahid added.

On the first batch of NS training series 9/2012, he said 27,011 more trainees would be leaving for their camps nationwide in the next two days, bringing the total to 43,896.

The trainees for the series travelled to their camps by buses involving 821 trips, 77 flights and six ferry trips.

On the National Service Volunteer Brigade, he said it would be launched by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak at Felda Chini in Pahang next month with the involvement of more than 620,000 ex-NS trainees.

- Bernama