SIASAT MUHYIDIN!!! Kenapa Kementerian Muhyidin begitu mudah beri RM 250 juta kepada NFC?

Bussiness Times SIngapore hari ini dalam laporannya yang menyentuh isu NFC berkata, Kementerian Pertanian dan Industri Asas Tani mesti disiasat ekoran skandal tersebut.

"Kementerian Pertanian dan Industri Asas Tani mesti disiasat kerana memberikan pinjaman mudah sebanyak RM250 juta kepada NFC," tulis BT dalam ruangan komentarnya.

Ini berikutan peranan Kementerian ini yang meluluskan dan mengeluarkan pinjaman RM250 juta setahun lebih awal dari perjanjian untuk projek NFC.

Bussines Times turut mempersoalkan mengapa Kementerian Pertanian dan Industri Asas Tani meluluskan kepada pihak yang tidak layak secara tergesa-gesa pinjaman berjumlah RM250 Juta tersebut?

Perlu diketahui bahawa Menteri yang menerajui Kementerian Pertanian dan Industri Asas Tani pada masa itu ialah Timbalan Perdana Menteri sekarang iaitu Muhyiddin Yassin..

TAHNIAH buat pemimpin UMNO!!

Sekali lagi nama Malaysia mengharum diluar negara angkara pemimpin UMNO!! Meskipun mereka tidak berucap diluar negara (tak dijemput pasal tak laku kot?) untuk memburuk-burukkan negara seperti yang sering tuduh dilakukan DS Anwar Ibrahim.

Perbuatan mereka sendiri cukup untuk memburuk-burukkan nama Malaysia di mata dunia.

Jika portal di seberang tambak juga turut mengulas isu ini, percayalah ianya akan mula tersebar keseluruh dunia…ASD



Run state-backed ventures with clear guidelines

By S JAYASANKARAN
KL CORRESPONDENT

THE heat is on for the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC). And rightly so.

Last Saturday, Prime Minister Najib Razak told reporters that the assets of the state-backed cattle farm project had been frozen 'for the time being'.

He also said that the decision by Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Jalil - whose husband is the head of the project - to go on three weeks' leave was 'appropriate' given that the anti-corruption agency was investigating the matter.

The NFC is a RM250 million (S$103 million) state-backed cattle farming project that, according to the Auditor-General's latest report, is in 'a mess'. The problem for Ms Shahrizat is that the project's head, Salleh Ismail, is her husband. Three of their children also sit on its board.

Since the news broke almost a month ago, the pressure on Ms Shahrizat has intensified; not just from the opposition (which started the whole thing) but also within her own party - the politically dominant United Malays National Organisation (Umno), where she is the head of the women's wing. Even former premier Mahathir Mohamad has joined the chorus asking for her resignation.

Compounding the problem is the fact that Mr Najib wants to call a snap general election some time next year and he cannot afford any scandal, especially one that the opposition would use to effect. From that perspective, the minister's fate seems perilous.

It's the opposition that has been leading the charge against the NFC. And the allegations that have been revealed so far have been startling.

Among them: that the NFC had purportedly purchased twin multi-million-dollar luxury condominium units in Bangsar, a swank suburb in Kuala Lumpur; that the NFC's funds had allegedly been used to finance Ms Shahrizat's and her family's personal expenses and trips abroad; that the NFC had allegedly transferred resources to unrelated companies in Singapore; and that the corporation had bought a Mercedes-Benz CLS350 for RM534,622 and two plots of land in Putrajaya for RM3 million.

Last week, it was alleged that some RM10 million had been diverted towards the purchase of a luxury condominium unit in Singapore.

In times gone by, such matters may not have had such an impact; not any more. Ever since 2008, when the opposition came within a whisker of taking over the federal government, it has been clear that Malaysia's citizenry wants accountability - and that it wants it yesterday.

That is only fair and proper. But the NFC matter must go further than that. The government must look into the manner in which state funds are disbursed; the NFC was backed by a RM250 million federal government loan carrying a ridiculously low rate of interest.

From the Auditor-General's report, it is also clear that there has been a failure of governmental oversight of the project. Has there been a failure of fiduciary duty on the part of government officials as well?

The role of the Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry should also be investigated. It was the ministry that approved the project and the ministry that disbursed the soft loan. And why did the ministry give the money out at what seems to be unseemly haste?

All the money was dished out a year after the deal was signed. Shouldn't the funds have gone out on a schedule that matched the project's delivery?

Essentially, what's needed are clear guidelines that establish the ground rules for the management of state-backed ventures. The days of 'just winging it' are over, and Mr Najib had better realise that.


Bussines Times