KUALA LUMPUR— Facing heat for his alleged role in the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) controversy, Datuk Seri Noh Omar today deflected all queries on the scandal to Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
The Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Minister, when asked by reporters today to explain why the NFC’s operations have not been discontinued when its assets have been frozen, told reporters here to direct their questions to Muhyiddin instead.
He was also asked on the proposed action to be taken against NFC, which is being run by Datuk Seri Mohamed Salleh Ismail, the husband of minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abd Jalil.
“It’s okay, this one, you ask DPM,” he said twice during a press conference here, before adding that he had to leave.
Noh had earlier given a 20-minute press conference on new guidelines imposed by the government to regulate the birds nest industry in Malaysia.
His aide however confirmed with The Malaysian Insider later that the minister was scheduled to meet with Muhyiddin on the NFC this afternoon.
When announcing on Saturday that NFC’s assets have been temporarily frozen, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had said he had instructed both Muhyiddin and Noh to study how best to resolve the issue.
But despite the asset freeze, NFCorp executive director Wan Shahinur Izmir Salleh, Shahrizat’s son, said yesterday its operations have remained “uninterrupted”.
“Business is as usual in the company. Inventory of beef will continue to be supplied and all customer orders will be fulfilled. There is no interruption nor disruption,” he had said in a statement.
Opposition leaders have since expressed their dissatisfaction at the government’s latest move, calling instead for punishment for Shahrizat and her family.
The DAP’s Lim Kit Siang said today the freezing of assets was meaningless unless the collective monthly salaries of Shahrizat’s family were slashed by two-thirds from RM215,000 to RM71,000.
The veteran leader also questioned how much of the NFC assets have actually been frozen. Among others, opposition leaders have alleged that NFC’s assets include several luxury condominium units in Bangsar and Singapore, two pieces of land in Putrajaya and a Mercedes Benz.
PAS has also called for a royal commission of inquiry to probe the award of the controversial RM250 million NFC project to Shahrizat’s family, as well as a freeze on the assets of all company directors.
Shahrizat applied for three weeks’ leave from her duties last week after new allegations of bribery surfaced recently involving the project, which is operated by her husband and two of their children.
The NFC issue came to light when the 2010 Auditor-General’s Report pointed out that the corporation had badly failed to meet production targets.
-Themalaysianinsider
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