This would have a multiplier effect on the country’s economy, said Pangkor assemblyman Zambry Abd Kadir.

He said any decision to cancel the project would prevent local vendors from participating in the shipbuilding value chain.

“There are more than 400 local vendors involved in the LCS project and most of them are armed forces veterans.

“If this project is cancelled, not only will they lose their jobs, they will also be burdened with costs of RM3.7 billion,” he said when contacted by Bernama today.

He said the local vendors should not be put in this situation, especially when the country was still in the process of recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

“To lose jobs at the moment will add more challenges to their daily lives and those of their family members. This is a chain reaction that must be avoided,” he said.

“If it is cancelled, it will definitely have a chain reaction on the entire ecosystem, including closing job opportunities for all local vendors,” he said.

It was previously reported that the defence ministry had conducted an in-depth investigation into the failure of Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNS), which is a subsidiary of Boustead Holdings Berhad, to supply six littoral combat ships, worth RM9 billion, to the Royal Malaysian Navy.

Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who was then senior defence minister, said the ministry had also conducted an investigation by reviewing the contract clauses on the delay in the delivery of the LCS.

According to him, findings of the investigation led to the issuance of the notice of liquidated and ascertained damages (LAD) amounting to RM180 million, of which RM80.6 million had been collected from BNS in October 2020.

According to the original plan, two of the six LCS should have been delivered, but as at July 31, 2020, none had been completed.