He said BNS’ role in the defence industry goes beyond the building of the LCS.

“BNS plays a major role in the ecosystem of the country’s naval shipbuilding industry. They help develop hundreds of local vendors and thousands of talents for Malaysia,” he told FMT.

“These include designers, engineers, technicians and other experts. All these in turn create job opportunities, generate other businesses, build infrastructures and many others which benefit the industry, economy and social development of the country in the long term.”

Kamarulzaman said if projects to build warships were awarded to foreign companies “every time”, BNS would not be able to sustain or survive, and would not be able to support and contribute to the navy shipbuilding industry in the long run.

He also said delays in the defence procurement of military assets were not unusual, and cited his own experience in the frigate project in Scotland in the early 1990s.

“The construction of the ships, which was supposed to take four years, was completed in eight years but we managed to claim the compensation cost,” he said.

He said he was proud that the ships – KD Lekiu and KD Jebat – were still performing well and continued to be the pride of the navy despite being nearly 30 years old.

Kamarulzaman said he was disappointed that work on the littoral combat ships had “slowed down” after the change in government following an investigation by the Public Governance, Procurement and Government Finance Investigation Committee.

The committee was led by former auditor-general Ambrin Buang.

“The project should have run concurrently with the investigation. When people fall sick, the priority is to heal them, you don’t just look for reasons why they fell sick,” he said.

Last month, navy chief Reza Sany said the construction of the LCS would be resumed early next year.

The LCS project has come under heavy scrutiny over its cost and delays in delivery.