“Noh Omar’s statement is inacurate and contradicting”

(Malaysian Digest) – Wanita Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) chief Zuraida Kamaruddin claimed that the statement made by the Minister of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry, Datuk Seri Noh Omar which was published in Sinar Harian newspaper on November 12 is not only inaccurate, but also contradicts his previous statement.

In a press conference held in Parliament today, Zuraida refuted Noh’s statement that says the National Feedlot Centre (NFC) is a private company that has nothing to do with the government.

She said, the government through the Ministry of Finance has a special share (golden share) in the NFC as confirmed by the search company in the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM).

“This is the same situation as the other government-linked companies (GLCs) with different shareholding structure, but results are still subjected to government through its golden share,” said Zuraida.

“The statement made by the minister was an attempt to cover up various abuses that occurred in the NFC and it shows the failure of the minister to oversee and ensuring that the people’s money is used wisely,” she added.

Zuraida who is also the member of parliament for Ampang, said Noh’s second statement that says funds will only be transmitted to the NFC from the special loan account raises more questions.

She said, if RM181 million has been paid to the NFC from the total loans of RM250 million as alleged by the minister, then the claim for the payment of RM9.8 million for the condominium is certainly included in the list of claims approved by the government.

“There are two possibilities here that is whether NFC falsifying the expense claims list or there is no control system and the payment of permission as mentioned by the minister,” she said.

“We (PKR) will continue demanding an explanation for these things before we expose other misappropriation,” she added.

The National Feedlot Centre (NFC) issue which became a hot topic for the Opposition since two weeks ago as they claimed that the program was a failure and had elements of cronysim.

The cattle-breeding project was awarded to a company owned by the family of Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil.

The issue became controversial after the Auditor-General’s Report, which said that NFC was in a mess and its production last year had not reached its target.