KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 27 — The DAP’s Lim Kit Siang is determined to keep the National Feedlot Centre (NFC) controversy alive, urging Malaysians today to pool their efforts and pressure the government into forming a royal commission of inquiry (RCI).
Calling the NFC a “grand conspiracy”, the veteran politician took pains in a statement here to list several reasons why the government, particularly key leaders like Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abd Jalil, should face the book for their alleged involvement in the scandal.
“Such a conspiracy must not be allowed to succeed, as the NFC/NFCorp (National Feedlot Corporation) ‘cattle condo’ scandal has become a symbol of the utter lack of seriousness of the Najib administration to combat corruption and head an accountable and transparent government,” Lim (picture) said.
In his list, the Ipoh Timor MP pointed out that the RM250 million government loan meant for the cattle-farming project had admittedly been used to purchase luxury condominium units in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, land plots in Putrajaya and to fund overseas trips and the “extraordinarily high salaries” for Shahrizat’s family members.
Shahrizat, a minister in Najib’s Cabinet, has been repeatedly linked to the project because of her husband’s role as NFCorp chairman and children’s directorships in the same company.
Lim also pointed out that apart from Shahrizat and her family, other notable personalities have been linked to the scandal-ridden project, including Najib, who was the Cabinet Committee for High Impact Projects chairman when the NFC first kicked off, Muhyiddin, who was then Agriculture and Agro-Based Industries minister, and Datuk Seri Noh Omar, the current minister for agriculture.
The DAP stalwart also named former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, pointing out that it was during the latter’s tenure as the head of Cabinet that the project was first mooted in 2007.
Lim also called into question the alleged reluctance by numerous authorities to discuss the scandal although it had clearly made it into the pages of the Auditor-General’s Report for 2010.
Among others, Lim pointed to how the A-G’s report was delayed from being tabled in Parliament last year, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) “five-month refusal” to initiate investigations, Public Accounts Committee chairman Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid’s failure to investigate the scandal and both Najib and Muhyiddin’s refusal to agree to an RCI probe.
Attempts by “various personalities” to cover up the scandal, said Lim, also made it clear that the multimillion ringgit cattle-farming project was not only a “mess” as described by the media but a “terrible mess”.
“All in all, the building block for a grand conspiracy to cover up the NFC/NFCorp ‘cattle condo’ scandal.
“Patriotic Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or political affiliation, should unite as one to demand in a loud and clear voice for an RCI into the NFC/NFCorp ‘cattle condo’ scandal,” he said.
