Former minister Rafidah Aziz's claim that the Defence Ministry had leased 40,000ha of its land to a little-known company is a mix of lies and misinformation, said caretaker defence minister Hishammuddin Hussein today.
"That is strictly not true and a blatant lie," he told a press conference in Kuching today.
Hishammuddin also denied announcing that the ministry would conduct agricultural projects on the “idle” land, as Rafidah alleged.
"I was having a discussion with the agriculture minister on food security. That was two or three years ago. Nothing has happened since then," said Hishammuddin.
He was referring to Rafidah's open letter to caretaker prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, where she alleged that a company owned by three individuals was now in control of 40,000ha of a Defence Ministry land.
Describing this as a privatisation project, Rafidah said the matter was brought up in the cabinet in late 2008, when Najib was defence minister in the Abdullah Ahmad Badawi administration.
Rafidah, who was then the international trade and industry minister, claimed that she had quizzed Najib on how the company was selected, and why the Armed Forces Fund Board (LTAT) was not chosen instead.
According to Rafidah, Najib and Abdullah had said at the time that LTAT would be involved in the project later.
In view of this, Rafidah urged Najib in her open letter to provide details of the company and name the three individuals who own it.
Hishammuddin stated today he has not been able to study the allegations in detail, and that he would review the relevant cabinet minutes soon.
He added that his ministry and LTAT will also respond to the allegations in due time.
According to a Bernama report on May 31, 2016, Hishammuddin did state that it would lease its idle land for farming purposes to address food security concerns. -Mkini
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