Members of NGOs who had waited for about two hours to engage in a dialogue with National Feedlot Corporation executive chairperson were left frustrated when the event ended abruptly.
Organised by Gabungan NGO Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, the event came to a halt after about 35 minutes when NFC executive director Wan Shahinur Izmir Salleh cut short the session.
Rushing off to his Toyota SUV, purportedly to catch a flight to
Mecca last night, Izmir (left) also turned his back on questions from the media.
Only two NGO representatives managed to have their questions entertained, however, one of them told Malaysiakini that his did not receive a complete answer.
Welfare Society for the Poor of Selangor and Kuala Lumpur president Mohd Solleh Ibrahim had asked how the NFC planned to go about convincing the rakyat that no misappropriation had occurred, but remained "dissatisfied" with the reply.
"We want to know what he intends to do so people can understand this issue , but to do it this way does not serve the purpose. It was all too rushed," he said.
Rushing off to his Toyota SUV, purportedly to catch a flight to
Mecca last night, Izmir (left) also turned his back on questions from the media.Only two NGO representatives managed to have their questions entertained, however, one of them told Malaysiakini that his did not receive a complete answer.
Welfare Society for the Poor of Selangor and Kuala Lumpur president Mohd Solleh Ibrahim had asked how the NFC planned to go about convincing the rakyat that no misappropriation had occurred, but remained "dissatisfied" with the reply.
"We want to know what he intends to do so people can understand this issue , but to do it this way does not serve the purpose. It was all too rushed," he said.
Exec trapped by question
Salleh, stressing his non-partisanship, added that it would be more fruitful if those accusing NFC of wrongdoing and company executives engaged in a public debate so the former can pose questions and show proof for the latter to answer.
Izmir was also put on the spot by Suara Inspirasi Malaysia's Suhaimi Adnan, who demanded to know why local cattle breeders were kept out of their usual grazing spot, now part of the National Feedlot Centre in Gemas, Negri Sembilan.
In state of agitation, Suhaimi, who claimed that his father-in-law is a cattle breeder in the area of Air Kuning Selatan near there, said that 25 of them had been given TOLs for part of the land 20 years ago and cleared it for grazing.
Izmir, who had invited Suhaimi (right) for a meeting, said that this was precisely the problem faced by the NFC, a private company, which is confused by government agencies holding stakes in the National Feedlot Centre project.
The dialogue was the second between NFC and NGOs in a fortnight.
"It is our initiative. We called the NGOs and NFC because we, too, wanted to know what is going on," Gabungan NGO Malaysia deputy president Datin Reny Rahayu Mohd Ishak.
Her efforts seemed to have satisfied Gerakan Memartabat Pejuang Negara vice chairperson Mohd Arafat Muhammad, who said his NGO would help organise nationwide 'information sessions' on the issue.
This echoes NFC corporate communciations manager Khaidir Jamal's briefing in which he said that it has come to a point where the NFC has to meet with local community leaders to counter claims made against it.
Mohd Arafat argued that the beef cartel in Malaysia, which he accused of being responsible for hiking up prices of the meat during festive seasons, wanted the National Feedlot Centre to fail.
"The National Feedlot Centre will break certain parties' monopoly of the beef industry," he told Malaysiakni after the dialogue.
Watch this video of the event:
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