Media statement by Dr. Hiew King Cheu in Kota Kinabalu on Thursday, 24^th June 2010:

2nd 'Scorpene' Submarine to arrive

The second Scorpene sub "KDTun Razak" will arrive in Malaysia on the 2nd of July into the Royal Malaysia Navy base in Lumut. It is understood that the sub is at the moment in the Indian Ocean after departing from Toulon in France on the 30th April following trials in the Mediterranean.

The first submarine KD Tunku Abdul Rahman, arrived at Port Klang on Sept 3 last year. It has been having minor hitches during tropical water trails in Malaysia waters, and the latest was that it couldn't dive.

Both SSK diesel-electric powered submarines of the Perdana Menteri-calss will operate out of their main navy base in Sepanggar Bay in Sabah. More then 150 Royal Malaysian Navy crews were initially trained in Brest, France, to man the two submarines.

Once here, KD Tun Razak, commissioned into the RMN at Cartagena, Spain in November last year, will undergo into tropical water and operation trails.

Both the SSK submarine and the Agosta-class second hand vessel boat were procured following an agreement with DCNS and its partner Navantia under a RM3.4 billion package in June 2002.

The Scorpene were jointly built at the Navantia shipyard in Spain and DCNS facility in Cherbourg, France. Each Scorpene sub is 67.5M long, has a displacement of 1,550 tonnes, is manned with a crew of 31 and can sail for 45 days.

I commented on this report carried in the newspaper and I think that the government is wrong in spending so much money on the two submarines which have so many technical faults. The manufacturer and supplier will have a tough time to trail run, maintain and repair the submarines, and there will be trail after trail in our tropical water. Since they are still on trail, how can they are commissioned and put into active service?

The manufacturer and supplier should be providing us with a product that is good, fit for use, trouble free, well tested, and safe. This is especially so when the submarine is a war machine, a high risk piece of equipment and it carries expensive high explosive torpedoes. We cannot afford risk on the lives of the 31 crews on board. Adding to this the price of million ringgits spent on the purchase of the torpedoes by the government is questionable. This is more unjustifiable when the country is in financial hardship.

I question the government on whether we have actually taken over the submarines as delivered under compliance certified specification, approval and fit for under water operational. Why the submarine is still under trail and test for tropical water operation. When will be the actual date for official handover? We cannot accept unfit submarine, will there be similar cases happened like the KD Tun Abdul Rahman?

* Dr Hiew King Cheu, DAP Sabah Chairman & MP for Kota Kinabalu