Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Minister Noh Omar today denied having any financial stake in a prawn farm project in Tanjung Karang managed by Pristine Agrofood Sdn Bhd.
The ‘stake’ which he was previously quoted as saying to the press he possessed, Noh explained, meant nothing more than the land which he had leased out to the company.
“What shares? It’s only land, my land. You can’t expect me to leave my land alone for it to grow weeds?” he told a press conference after officially opening the soft launch of the Malaysia Agriculture, Horticulture and Agrotourism (MAHA) International Show in Putrajaya this afternoon.
Last Saturday, Sin Chew Daily had quoted the minister as saying that he possessed a stake in the prawn farming business, but a check with Companies Commission showed that Noh did not possess any shares in the company.
The ‘stake’ which he was previously quoted as saying to the press he possessed, Noh explained, meant nothing more than the land which he had leased out to the company.
“What shares? It’s only land, my land. You can’t expect me to leave my land alone for it to grow weeds?” he told a press conference after officially opening the soft launch of the Malaysia Agriculture, Horticulture and Agrotourism (MAHA) International Show in Putrajaya this afternoon.Last Saturday, Sin Chew Daily had quoted the minister as saying that he possessed a stake in the prawn farming business, but a check with Companies Commission showed that Noh did not possess any shares in the company.
Pristine Agrofood’s director Chu Bak Teck had also denied that Noh had a stake in the company.
Asked whether Noh had a hand in approving a loan for the prawn farm from Agrobank as he oversees the financial institution, the minister denied any knowledge of it.
“How should I know? I just lease my land, what does it have anything to do with me. I don’t contribute any money, it is them who are managing it... I don’t know anything about Agrobank as well,” he said.
Noh asserted that the land was leased long before he became a minister and stressed that there was no wrong in this.
Queried on how much the minister had acquired the land for, Noh replied: “Even that you want to know? You don’t need to know lah.”
“I had that land even before I became an MP or a lawyer, it was village land, so what is the problem?” he added.
Noh said that prior to this, he had leased the 20 acre land to a company from China in the 1990s which initially managed the 100-acre prawn farm, but it failed and was later taken over by Pristine Agrofood.
Asked whether the agriculture minister should avoid the business altogether to prevent any issues of conflict of interest, Noh replied: “Do you propose that the rest of the 80 acres be developed while my 20 acres be left to become a jungle?”
“They wanted to develop the 100 acre land, so since my 20 acre land was part of it I leased it to them,” he added.
MAHA International, one of the largest agriculture expos in the country, is expected to run from Nov 23 to Dec 2 this year.
Asked whether Noh had a hand in approving a loan for the prawn farm from Agrobank as he oversees the financial institution, the minister denied any knowledge of it.
“How should I know? I just lease my land, what does it have anything to do with me. I don’t contribute any money, it is them who are managing it... I don’t know anything about Agrobank as well,” he said.
Noh asserted that the land was leased long before he became a minister and stressed that there was no wrong in this.
Queried on how much the minister had acquired the land for, Noh replied: “Even that you want to know? You don’t need to know lah.”
“I had that land even before I became an MP or a lawyer, it was village land, so what is the problem?” he added.
Noh said that prior to this, he had leased the 20 acre land to a company from China in the 1990s which initially managed the 100-acre prawn farm, but it failed and was later taken over by Pristine Agrofood.
Asked whether the agriculture minister should avoid the business altogether to prevent any issues of conflict of interest, Noh replied: “Do you propose that the rest of the 80 acres be developed while my 20 acres be left to become a jungle?”
“They wanted to develop the 100 acre land, so since my 20 acre land was part of it I leased it to them,” he added.
MAHA International, one of the largest agriculture expos in the country, is expected to run from Nov 23 to Dec 2 this year.
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