NFC so 'successful', it needs to be re-tendered

A flashback to the early days of the drama surrounding the National Feedlot Corporation will not be something that Agriculture and Agro-based minister Noh Omar and prime minister Najib Razak would want to hear.

After all, the duo had come forward to defend the messy RM250 million project a success when the public was given a glimpse of what later turned out to be the most talked about financial scandal of recent years.

On October 30 last year, Noh declared that the NFC project was a success, and insisted that the cattle farming scheme had met its target of producing 8,000 heads of cattle by 2010 despite a report by the Auditor General in 2010 that it had produced only 3,289 heads of cattle, less than half of the target set that year.

Then, Najib replied in parliament dismissing allegations of abuse of power in the Federal government’s RM250 million soft loan to NFC, the company helmed at the top by Mohamad Salleh, husband of Women, Family and Community Development minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil.

And when things went out of hand with evidences of abuses piling up, the Auditor General, Ambrin Buang, was forced to make an unprecedented clarification on the NFC project, saying his 2010 annual report had never suggested that the project was in a mess or there had been misappropriation of funds.

From the National Audit Department’s perspective, Ambrin concurred there were several weaknesses in the implementation of the project which caused the government to postpone it to May 2009 and left for the relevant authorities to investigate if there were elements of misappropriation in the implementation of the project.

Following Ambrin’s clarification, Noh once again declared NFC a success.

Re-tender

Yet again, allegations poured in, with proofs to show how the RM250 loan had been squandered on luxury apartments in and out of the country. Najib then announced a freeze on NFC assets, without mentioning details, and tasked Noh and deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin, the person in charge of Agriculture ministry when NFC was awarded the project, to handle the heat.

Muhyiddin however dismissed calls for a royal commission of inquiry to investigate the scandal. Instead, he said an independent audit would be done on NFC’s books. To date, no one knows the scope of the audit or what has been done.

After Salleh was finally charged in court, Noh, who once declared the cattle rearing project a success, emerged again. This time, he announced a 're-tendering' exercise was underway, saying the government was looking for a new firm to take over the National Feedlot Centre operated by the discredited NFC.

“Noh’s announcement is just a flip-flop and clearly contradicts his earlier declaration that the project is a success," said PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu.

"The government must find ways to recover the RM250 million loan, and if it is complicated, they must take legal actions.”

Mat Sabu reiterated that the government just could not ignore the prime concern about the money abused by NFC.

Yesterday, PKR’s Rafizi Ramli blasted the re-tendering of the feedlot centre saying it was merely a ploy by Najib to cover up his mistake in awarding the contract to those unqualified.

Says Mat Sabu: “Noh’s decision is akin to Najib’s flip-flop style in handling important government’s policies. First they thought the scandal would not be exposed, they tried to defend, but he could not as the information received by the opposition is comprehensive."

-Harakahdaily