The Pandan MP today revealed a copy of a letter allegedly from the Finance Ministry to the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (APMM), noting that THHE was awarded a large directly-negotiated government contract to build three OPV units for APMM.
One of the conditions of the contract, he alleged, was that THHE cooperate with other local companies with the necessary facilities, capacity and experience for shipbuilding.
“I must stress that the specific condition that ‘THHE must cooperate with local companies that have the necessary facilities, capacity and experience for building ships’ was entered because it shows that THHE has never had any experience in building OPV ships,” Rafizi said.
“THHE is a company that builds offshore platforms.
“If it has already faced issues with finishing tasks, such as delays and a suspension by Petronas Carigali from participation in its acquisition contracts, it is certain that THHE will face issues in providing the necessary OPV ships now.”
Rafizi repeated his claim that Najib had awarded THHE the contract to help repair its desperate financial situation, especially after THHE was sued by its contractors for outstanding debts.
“Najib’s move to use an OPV supply contract to cover Tabung Haji’s mistake in investing in THHE (revealed to have suffered losses of RM554 million) is desperate and irresponsible,” Rafizi said.
“Considering the danger present off Malaysia’s shores, especially in East Sabah (after the repeated kidnapping cases), the move to grant the OPV contract to a completely inexperienced company is asking for trouble because there is a high chance that the OPV ships will not be completed on time.
“This will inhibit efforts to improve national coastal safety controls, which will in turn cause the threat of pirates and kidnappers to continue.”
Rafizi had yesterday said that he possessed documents supporting his allegations pertaining to the company which is partly-owned by the pilgrim’s fund Tabung Haji.
“I have documents which clearly confirm the awarding of contracts through direct negotiations of RM740 million to THHE which I will reveal further every day this week,” Rafizi said in a statement yesterday.
Rafizi called the alleged awarding of the contracts by Najib as an attempt to bail out the engineering company, which he said was close to bankruptcy.