Why no probe on NFC directors?

The government must reveal details of the National Feedlot Corporation's asset, says PAS.

KUALA LUMPUR: PAS wants to know the details of the National Feedlot Corporation’s (NFC) frozen assets as well as why the government has let the company’s board of directors go scot-free.

Its vice-president Mahfuz Omar said today that as long as details of the frozen assets are withheld, there will be more speculations as to whether these “assets” were equivalent to the RM250 million soft loan that was awarded to the project.

“If the frozen assets were only the value of cattle pen, cattle and cattle faeces which are much lower than the RM250 million soft loan given to NFC, then how are we going to recover that money back?” he asked.

Mahfuz, who is Pokok Sena MP, also asked why the assets of individuals who sit on NFC’s board of directors were not frozen as well.

“From the reports that we read, there are transactions from NFC to individuals on the board of directors and their privately owned companies.

“I am worried that NFC’s assets which have no value are frozen but the real value of the company is within the hands of the company directors,” he said, alluding to, among others, the family’s upscale steak houses – Meatworks, Senor Santos and Brawns.

PKR, the main party that has unearthed most of these allegations, has said before that the money allocated for the NFC had been distributed to its subsidiary companies which are also owned by Shahrizat’s family.

Among the subsidiaries are Real Food Company Sdn Bhd (RFC), which operated the steakhouses, and National Livestock & Meat Corp Sdn Bhd (NLMC). Both were granted continuous loans by the NFC despite records showing that they were dormant since 2007.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak said the publicly funded project’s assets will be frozen following investigations by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and the police on allegations of corruption and mishandling of NFC’s finances including misappropriation of the RM250 million soft loan.

RCI for NFC

NFC is run by Women, Family and Community Development Minister, Shahrizat Abdul Jalil’s family. NFC executive chairman is Shahrizat’s husband Mohamad Salleh Ismail.

She and her family have come under heavy criticism over allegations of misuse of funds allocated for the project. They have been accused of purchasing luxurious condominiums and cars, prime plots of land in Putrajaya and to finance overseas holidays.

Shahrizat, who has been urged to resign over the scandal, announced last Thursday that she would be on a three-week leave from her ministerial duties following MACC’s investigations into NFC.

She said that she hoped the MACC could investigate if she had a hand in the Cabinet’s decision to award the multi-million ringgit cattle project to NFC.

Mahfuz today commended Shahrizat for going on leave although he said, it will not help solve the controversy.

He also called for a Royal Commission Inquiry (RCI) to be established to look into the awarding of the project in a more comprehensive manner as the MACC investigation did not look into how the project was awarded to a company with no experience in handling such business.

“An RCI should be established to look into who (other Cabinet members) are involved in awarding the contract (in 2006) including the Cabinet Committee for High-Impact Agricultural Projects which was chaired by (then Finance Minister), Najib Tun Razak. Other members were then Agriculture Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and the current Agriculture Minister, Noh Omar,” he said.

The NFC came under attack from the opposition parties , particularly PKR, after the release of the 2010 Auditor-General’s Report, which said the publicly-funded corporation was “in a mess” after it failed to meet targets for beef production.