A PKR lawmaker said Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin must quit all his government positions over the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) debacle.
Ampang MP Zuraida Kamaruddin said awarding a huge project to an inexperienced company such as the NFC showed the minister's “inability” to conduct a proper and efficient tender process.
"As the minister of that portfolio, Muhyiddin should take responsibility for the incident and resign immediately," said Zuraida.
Muhyiddin was the agriculture minister in 2006 when the feedlot project was awarded to NFC.
Zuraida was responding to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission's 2012 annual report released yesterday, in which it blamed the RM250 million NFC scandal on the Agriculture Ministry's failure to carry out due diligence before awarding the contract.
The report also said the ministry had failed to choose a competent company to execute the project.
"The selection of the company was categorised as service acquisition and the format used was limited tender. Moreover, the company which was given the opportunity to present a working paper did not have sound technical competence or a strong financial background," said MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohamed.
Zuraida said government officials on NFC's board of directors should also be held accountable.
"The government's representatives on the NFC's board of directors also failed to play their roles properly.
"Muhyiddin must admit that he made a mistake... that he was sloppy in awarding the tender," Zuraida told reporters at the Parliament lobby.
Zuraida (pic, right) said that if not for Pakatan Rakyat, the NFC scandal would not have come to light and no investigations would have been launched.
The NFC is linked to the family of former minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, who had since resigned. Her husband and children, who are on NFC's directors, were accused of spending a government grant for the project on items unrelated to the company's business, including on luxury cars and holiday trips.
Zuraida also questioned Shahrizat's new role to advise the Prime Minister.
"Given the situation, is it comprehensible that Shahrizat has been appointed as the Prime Minister's special adviser?" she asked.
She reiterated that Putrajaya's lackasaidal attitude in managing funds needed to be addressed.
"This has caused many recipients of government loans to have an unconcerned and callous attitude when it comes to managing funds.”
In March last year, Shahrizat's husband, NFCorp executive chairman Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Salleh Ismail, was charged with criminal breach of trust over the purchase of two units of condominium in Kuala Lumpur. He was also charged for a RM40 million transfer into the account of National Meat & Livestock Corporation Sdn Bhd in 2009.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak recently announced that a plan to takeover NFC's RM250 million debt by a Japanese conglomerate had been cancelled following a stalemate. - November 7, 2013.
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