NFC re-tender still in the works

The government is still in the process of re-tendering the controversial National Feedlot Centre.

An announcement will be made at a later date, Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Minister Noh Omar said at a press conference today.

"When it is ready, there will be an announcement by Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin who is chairing the committee on the National Feedlot Centre project," he said.

Noh had told Parliament earlier this year that the government was already in the "second stage" of the re-tender process.

The beef supply scheme hit headlines after the auditor-general's report found that the project, awarded to the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC), was not meeting targets.

The NFC is run by former cabinet minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil's husband Mohamad Salleh Ismail and their children.

The company was also given a government soft loan of RM250 million for the cattle project, which NFC says was disbursed in trenches.

On March 12, Mohamed Salleh pleaded not guilty in a sessions court in Kuala Lumpur to two counts of criminal breach of trust involving RM49.7 million with regard to the purchase of two condominium units, and to two other charges under the Companies Act.

Shahrizat, whose term as a senator ended at the height of the scandal, told the High Court in Kuala Lumpur last week that she did not know her husband was awarded the project or that her children were involved in NFC.

She said this when testifying in her RM100 million defamation suit against PKR leaders Rafizi Ramli and Zuraida Kamaruddin over their statements related to her on the NFC scandal.

Rafizi and Zuraida have filed a counter suit against Shahrizat.