Repay RM250m NFC loan, Nazri tells Shahrizat

By Clara Chooi

February 13, 2012

KUALA KANGSAR, Feb 13 — Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil has been advised by fellow Cabinet minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz to repay the RM250 million government loan obtained for the scandal-ridden National Feedlot Centre (NFC) project.

Nazri (picture) was reported by Sinar Harian as saying it was the best solution to put and end to the ongoing controversy without forcing a resignation from the women, family and community development minister.

“She does not have to resign. The main thing is, return the money to the government,” he was quoted as saying in the Malay daily today.

“But after this, it is better to use open tender to avoid such unwanted incidents,” he added.

The NFC hit the headlines following last year’s Auditor-General’s Report, and has continued to hog the limelight after it was linked to Shahrizat, and her family, who runs the National Feedlot Corporation (NFCorp).

The publicly-funded company is headed by her husband, Datuk Seri Mohamad Salleh Ismail. Their three children also hold executive posts in the company.

PKR has since made several revelations relating to the scandal, including NFCorp’s purchase of two luxury condominium units in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur, and the alleged use of project funds to pay for Shahrizat and her family’s personal expenses.

The opposition party has also alleged that Shahrizat’s family used nearly RM600,000 from NFCorp’s funds to settle their credit card bills in 2009.

But the management of NFCorp has maintained that the credit card expenses were solely for business purposes.

It has also denied allegations that funds from the RM250 million government loan were channelled into its accounts before the loan agreement was signed.

Shahrizat applied for three weeks’ leave from her duties last month after new allegations of bribery surfaced. She has since resumed her duties.

Last Wednesday, she was called in for questioning by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced last month Putrajaya would appoint an auditor to scrutinise NFCorp’s books in light of accusations made against the company.

In response to claims by PKR that NFCorp had purchased two luxury condominiums worth RM34 million in Singapore’s posh Marina Bay Suites, Shahrizat’s son Wan Shahinur Izmir had explained recently that the company had decided that it would make better use of the money by investing in property during a break in business operations.

The break, said Wan Shahinur Izmir, was caused by the government’s decision to suspend construction of an abattoir that would have been rented to NFCorp.

But according to the DAP’s Tony Pua, the Finance Ministry had told a parliamentary committee last November that there was no provision that permits the NFCorp to use its federal loan to purchase property.

A ministry official had disclosed this to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) during a meeting convened to discuss the NFCorp issue and was “very specific” that such loans could not be used for purposes other than what had been specified, said the Petaling Jaya Utara MP.

Pua, who sits on the PAC, said the senior official had explained during the meeting on November 23, 2011 that the purpose of each drawdown must be clearly stated, and that the ministry had never received an application from NFCorp to purchase property.