Asset Acquisition: Defence Ministry Prioritises End Users' Needs

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 2 (Bernama) -- The Defence Ministry always prioritises the needs of end users when acquiring national assets, including those carried out through the government-to-government (G2G) mechanism.

Deputy Minister Adly Zahari said the views and technical evaluations of the Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM) service branches were always involved during the acquisition of assets, in line with the Defence White Paper.

“In the Defence Ministry, users are involved from the start, and their assessment of assets is considered before acquisition. If the user does not approve the asset, it will not be accepted.

“This is a fundamental issue; we cannot suggest that our users favour any particular manufacturer or company, as this could negatively affect them. That is why users typically provide the specifications for the assets,” he said when winding up the debate on the Supply Bill 2025 (Budget) at the committee level for the Defence Ministry in the Dewan Rakyat today.

Earlier in the debate, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman (MUDA-Muar) said that according to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report, the misconduct in the construction of the littoral combat ship (LCS), which resulted in the loss of billions of ringgit, occurred because the government did not adhere to the specifications set by the end user, the ATM, and instead focused more on listening to complaints from contractors or concessionaires.

“My question is simple, can the government provide a written guarantee, signed by the Chief of Defence Force, along with the Army and Air Force Chiefs, to confirm that the concessionaire, amounting to billions of ringgit, is based on their request and application, and that the specifications reflect the needs of the end user? he said.

Meanwhile, Adly said that a total of 31,000 non-pensionable ATM veterans had received the Bantuan Sara Hidup (BSH) aid so far.

He said that starting next year, BSH would involve an allocation of RM174 million, following the increase in aid from RM300 to RM500, as announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim when tabling Budget 2025 on Oct 18.

“Our national defence system needs non-pensionable veterans, so our responsibility at the ministry level is to ensure that these veterans are given priority (in receiving BSH),” he said.

The Dewan Rakyat then approved the estimated operating and development expenditure of RM21,128,702,300 allocated to the Defence Ministry in Budget 2025, with more votes in favour after it was debated by 13 Members of Parliament.

-- BERNAMA