Govt. should seize NFC's condos, car and land...

The federal government has been urged to seize the non-core business assets of the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC).

PAS vice-president Husam Musa said these include luxury condominium units, a luxury car and prime land in Putrajaya.

Husam said such a move would help Putrajaya recover some of the funds that are part of a RM250 million soft loan, while leaving core business assets for rearing cattle intact.

"The government must rescue NFC's assets... RM250 million of the taxpayers' funds were used beyond the scope of (NFC's) work.

"It is certainly a breach of trust," said Husam in a statement today.

Husam, who is a senior Kelantan state executive councillor in charge of economic affairs, said the government must now salvage whatever is left of the soft loan.

"Assets that are under names of individuals or private companies should be ordered to be returned to the government.

"The condominiums and the land in Putrajaya, if returned, could at least be helpful to the government in obtaining a portion of the approved funds, since this has been used for an unrelated purpose," Husam said.

Act to protect country's interest

Following public outcry, the police had initiated a probe on NFC’s owners and management including executive chairperson Mohamad Salleh Ismail, who is husband of Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil.

The opposition which has since taken on the dispute insisting the project was sourced out to Shahrizat’s family members without a transparent tender system which resulted in an alleged abuse of funds.

The project was awarded to the corporation owned by Shahrizat's family in 2007 under Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's administration when Shahrizat was a serving cabinet minister.

Shahrizat, however, has denied any involvement and refused to answer to any of the allegations.

The police had also said that early stages of their investigations have shown no breach of trust or irregularity in the handling of funds for NFC.

Despite Shahrizat’s (right) denial, the opposition as well as several members of her party, Umno, has called for her resignation.

Joining the chorus, Husam also demanded that she resign from the cabinet position and “take responsibility to protect the country's interest” by suggesting herself that the non-core assets are returned to the government.

“She should prove that she is with the government and the people if it is true she is not involved in any of her husband’s business,” he said.

“Until now, we can't her of being independent from NFC which is managed by her husband.

Funds for a family vacation

“At the very least, if she is concerned about her credibility she should propose for a due-diligence or an independent audit to be conducted and the report presented to the public,” Husam suggested.

This, he said, would prove that Shahrizat is not covering up the alleged misuse or breach of trust by her husband or family.

However, if she had a role in utilising NFC's funds for a family vacation, she should resign and advice the family to return the assets to the government.

He also doubted Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's “apathy” in handling the issue as the premier did not act on the matter urgently.

“The prime minister keeping mum on the scandal shows that it is not a priority to be to protect the nation from abuse and corruption when those from Umno and BN are involved,” said Husam.

Lashing out at Najib's reform agenda, Husam added that it is all “merely a gimmick”.

source:malaysiakini

Rampas kondo NFC, kereta dan tanah

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