KUALA LUMPUR: The Defence Ministry has dismissed claims suggesting there was a delay in the delivery of 20 armoured personnel carriers (APC) to be used by the Malaysian Battalion (Malbatt) in Lebanon.
The ministry, in a statement, said the delivery process would be finalised by the end of next year.
The ministry said the acquisition to supply and deliver the APCs is a contract that was signed starting Dec 3 last year until Dec 2, 2024.
"Through this contract, the appointed company will supply 20 units of APCs for the Malbatt force in Lebanon.
"The delivery of all 20 units of APCs will be finalised by the fourth quarter of 2024," read the statement.
The ministry was responding to a posting made by a Twitter user using the handle "Malaysia Defence Review", which claimed that the 20 APCs that were supposed to be operational next year will arrive late.
Meanwhile, checks showed the Twitter user has deleted the posting concerning the delivery of the APCs.
On March 30, the Defence Ministry signed 54 agreements worth RM4.6 billion at the Defence Services Asia Conference and Exhibition 2022 and the National Security Conference Asia (Natsec) 2022.
The then defence minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein was quoted as saying that the ammount involved 20 letters of authorisation (LOA) worth RM1.14 billion, 24 contracts (RM3.32 billion), letters of intent (LOI) (RM152.79 million) and three memorandums of understanding (MoU).
At the time, Hishammuddin also announced new assets for the armed forces, including the 20 APCs to be used by Malbatt operations in Lebanon.