On December the 2nd, Deputy IGP Datuk Khalid Bakar issued a police statement stating that police investigations have so far not revealed any criminal breach of trust elements in the management of the NFC. This is rather a perplexing move as the PDRM is forbidden to issue any statements regarding any on-going investigations before it has been completed. The PDRM has also admitted that they have not called in Shahrizat for questioning even though she is the key figure in this controversy.
Hakim Joe
Under the 9th Malaysia Plan in 2006, the National Feedlot Centre (NFC) was targeted as a High Impact Project with an objective to attain 40% self-sufficiency for beef production by 2010. The Badawi government then allocated RM4.4 billion for modernizing agriculture
farming under the 9MP.
farming under the 9MP.
On March 2007, the Ministry of Agriculture under Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, chose two companies to manage the NFC. They were Agro Science Industries Sdn. Bhd. and Lambert Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. with the former being given a 2,000-hectare land and the latter a 200-hectare land to start off the project. The NFC obtained RM73.64 million from the GOM to establish the project.
In December 2007, the government approved a soft loan (2% annual interest for a 10 year period) amounting to RM250 million to National Feedlot Corp Sdn Bhd, a JV company between Agro Science Industries Sdn Bhd and the GOM to start a feedlot in Gemas, Negeri Sembilan, the first step in a plan to help Malaysia cut its reliance on beef imports with an initial target of 60,000 heads of cattle a year. Malaysia was then importing 80% of all beef consumed.
In February 2008, NFC obtained the first batch of 1,000 heads of cattle from Australia.
In July 2008, just five months after starting operations, the NFC announced that the company would target a 28% self-sufficiency level for beef production by 2010 as opposed to the 40% level set by the GOM under the 9MP.
In March 2010, the NFC stated that they should achieve the 40% self-sufficiency beef production target by 2015, five years later than expected.
In October 2011, the Jabatan Audit Negara released the much-delayed 2010 Auditor- General Report in which it revealed wasteful spending by government departments as well as weaknesses of governance which have contributed to the Federal Government’s embedded deficit and debt problems.
One of the items being highlighted was the NFC Project whereupon an audit was undertaken between January and March 2011 revealed that the objectives of the NFC were not completely achieved because the development of 130 satellite farm entrepreneurs under the Entrepreneur Development Programme was not carried out, and that the main operator withdrew from the project in 2008. Another item was that the NFC only produced 3,289 heads of cattle in 2010 instead of the 8,000 target and that the entire operations were “in a mess”.
In November 2011, the Opposition exposed financial irregularities in the NFC when it alleged that the NFC gave out loans amounting to over RM84 million to companies owned by Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, the Minister of Women, Family and Community Development and wife of NFC chairman, Dr Mohamad Salleh Ismail. It was also alleged that NFC channeled out funds for the purchase of a luxury condominium in Bangsar for RM9,758,140 (it was later exposed that NFC purchased two luxury condominiums at One Menerung in Bangsar for RM6.9 million each), two plots of land in Precinct 10 in Putrajaya for RM3,363,507 and a Mercedes Benz CLS 350 CGI for RM534,622 (through the National Meat and Livestock Corporation) and transferred out RM588,585 to Meatworks (Singapore) Pty. Ltd. Both the National Meat and Livestock Corporation and Meatworks (Singapore) Pty. Ltd. are owned by Shahrizat’s family.
The Opposition additionally stated that NFC issued 15 cheques from its CIMB Islamic Bank Berhad account in Taman Tun Dr. Ismail to tour agency Impian Global Network Services over a span of seven months on a monthly basis for a total of RM455,423.
When questioned, Shahrizat said that she had nothing to do with the NFC issue. “I will not clarify (on the NFC issue) but there will be two messages I would like to convey at the Wanita Umno assembly to those outside. Let's wait. As a leader, we need to be patient and calm, and not get easily hysterical. If anyone wants to ask about the NFC, they should ask the NFC people. I will only be focusing on Wanita Umno.”
NFC’s chairman is Datuk Dr. Mohamad Salleh Ismail (her husband), NFC’s executive director is Wan Shahinur Izmir (her son, age 31), NFC’s CEO is Wan Shahinur Izran (her other son, age 27) and NFC’s director is Wan Izzana Fatimah (her daughter, age 25).
When NFC purchased the luxury condominium on December the 2nd, 2009 for RM9.8 million, the company reported a RM11 million loss on its annual accounting report. It is also reported that the Chairman received a monthly salary of RM100,000, the executive director RM45,000 a month, the CEO RM35,000 a month and the other director also RM35,000 a month.
When Kuwaiti-born and Oxford educated Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin came out in defense of Shahrizat, he stated that it was a “good business decision” by the National Livestock and Meat Corporation to invest in a luxury condominium instead of letting the excess (public) funds idly sit in a bank account and that there was nothing improper about the transaction.
When the current Minister of Agriculture, Datuk Seri Noh Omar (of the “if foreigners think that Malaysia police are brutal, please go back to their own countries and not to stay here” statement) was questioned about NFC’s inability to reach its target of 8,000 heads of cattle, he responded that NFC has indeed produced over 8,000 heads of cattle between 2008 and 2010, and that the project is indeed a success. A few days later, the Agriculture Minister amended his statement and stated that all NFC has to do is to slaughter another 5,742 cattle before the last day of the year (actually 8,000 minus 3,289 equals 4,711) and the project would be a resounding success as the target would then have been met.
When a report was made by Penang PKR Youth to MACC, the anti corruption agency passed the case to PDRM stating, “The case has been referred to the police because our investigations showed that the offence is not under the jurisdiction of the commission under the MACC Act 2009,”
When Datuk Dr. Mohamad Salleh Ismail was questioned by PDRM in relation to the two luxury condominiums, he stated that the two units were currently rented out to two different oil and gas companies to provide housing for their expatriate staff and that NFC receives a RM75,000 rental a month, one unit fetching RM18,000 a month and the other unit fetching RM57,000 a month (even a 27,000sf fully furnished bungalow with a swimming pool and spa on Kenny Hills does not command a RM57,000 a month rental). This figure was later amended to RM18,000 a month for both units but the PDRM saw no discrepancy between both answers.
On December the 2nd, Deputy IGP Datuk Khalid Bakar issued a police statement stating that police investigations have so far not revealed any criminal breach of trust elements in the management of the NFC. This is rather a perplexing move as the PDRM is forbidden to issue any statements regarding any on-going investigations before it has been completed. The PDRM has also admitted that they have not called in Shahrizat for questioning even though she is the key figure in this controversy.
For those uninformed, the NFC was first mooted in 2003 by Dr. Rosli Mai Lam of Lazuli Sdn. Bhd. who remains a partner in this project. Dr. Rosli of Lazuli, as known to the players in the industry, is a supplier of cattle and other complementary livestock supplies to anyone entering the livestock industry in Malaysia.
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