KUALA LUMPUR — Khairy Jamaluddin refused to rebut today opposition claims of graft surrounding the National Feedlot Centre (NFC) project after staunchly defending the public-funded cattle-farming project for weeks.
The Umno Youth chief said instead that police should investigate the controversial project owned and run by minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil’s family.
“The police have to finish their investigation.
“After that I suppose we’ll get a better indication whether or not there’s any credibility to the allegation,” Khairy (picture) told reporters at the Twitter-initiated 3on3 basketball tournament at Berjaya Times Square here.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar had said yesterday that NFC was being investigated for cheating or criminal breach of trust over its purchase of two luxury condominium units here using government funds.
A public complaint alleging corruption in the purchase of the multimillion ringgit property in Bangsar was first lodged with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
The anti-graft body later passed the case to the Commercial Crimes Investigation Department (CCID) in Bukit Aman, saying the offence comes under the jurisdiction of the police.
Khairy, along with other Umno leaders such as Kota Belud MP Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan, had initially gone to great lengths to defend Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat and her family, in the micro-blogging site Twitter.
“Datuk Salleh, the chairman of NFC, has already made his press briefing. I think we should let, as DPM said yesterday, we should let the public digest the briefing first.
“Let all the facts be known first then if there are any details or facts that are needed, I’m sure NFC will come out again to provide them,” the Rembau MP said today.
However, Khairy said he was still ready to debate PKR strategic director Rafizi Ramli, who had challenged him to a debate over the issue earlier this week.
The NFC first became embroiled in controversy when its operations made it into the pages of the Auditor-General’s Report for 2010.
The report, released last month, had criticised the RM250 million federally-funded cattle project, pointing out that it was now “in a mess”. It further said production in 2010 was only 3,289 head of cattle or 41.1 per cent of the target set.
Putrajaya has steadfastly defended the project since then but numerous exposes by PKR, including the controversial purchase of two units at Bangsar’s luxurious One Menerung condominium, forced the company to break its silence on Thursday.
NFC executive chairman Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Salleh Ismail, Shahrizat’s husband, had defended the NFC’s purchase of the condominium units, saying it was a sound investment, and claimed the feedlot project had surpassed its production target, disputing the federal audit’s findings.
He also claimed the condominium purchase had yielded RM900,000 in rental and developer rebates in the first year alone, amounting to 12.9 per cent of returns in its investment.
If the money had been kept in fixed deposit, he said, it would have only earned the NFC 2.6 per cent to 3.25 per cent returns.
Mohamad Salleh is also mulling legal action against his accusers such as Rafizi and PKR secretary general Saifuddin Nasution.
Both Barisan Nasional (BN) and opposition lawmakers have called for heads to roll over the scandal, with the latter group urging Putrajaya to axe Shahrizat from the Cabinet.
The Umno Youth chief said instead that police should investigate the controversial project owned and run by minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil’s family.“The police have to finish their investigation.
“After that I suppose we’ll get a better indication whether or not there’s any credibility to the allegation,” Khairy (picture) told reporters at the Twitter-initiated 3on3 basketball tournament at Berjaya Times Square here.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar had said yesterday that NFC was being investigated for cheating or criminal breach of trust over its purchase of two luxury condominium units here using government funds.
A public complaint alleging corruption in the purchase of the multimillion ringgit property in Bangsar was first lodged with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
The anti-graft body later passed the case to the Commercial Crimes Investigation Department (CCID) in Bukit Aman, saying the offence comes under the jurisdiction of the police.
Khairy, along with other Umno leaders such as Kota Belud MP Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan, had initially gone to great lengths to defend Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat and her family, in the micro-blogging site Twitter.
“Datuk Salleh, the chairman of NFC, has already made his press briefing. I think we should let, as DPM said yesterday, we should let the public digest the briefing first.
“Let all the facts be known first then if there are any details or facts that are needed, I’m sure NFC will come out again to provide them,” the Rembau MP said today.
However, Khairy said he was still ready to debate PKR strategic director Rafizi Ramli, who had challenged him to a debate over the issue earlier this week.
The NFC first became embroiled in controversy when its operations made it into the pages of the Auditor-General’s Report for 2010.
The report, released last month, had criticised the RM250 million federally-funded cattle project, pointing out that it was now “in a mess”. It further said production in 2010 was only 3,289 head of cattle or 41.1 per cent of the target set.
Putrajaya has steadfastly defended the project since then but numerous exposes by PKR, including the controversial purchase of two units at Bangsar’s luxurious One Menerung condominium, forced the company to break its silence on Thursday.
NFC executive chairman Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Salleh Ismail, Shahrizat’s husband, had defended the NFC’s purchase of the condominium units, saying it was a sound investment, and claimed the feedlot project had surpassed its production target, disputing the federal audit’s findings.
He also claimed the condominium purchase had yielded RM900,000 in rental and developer rebates in the first year alone, amounting to 12.9 per cent of returns in its investment.
If the money had been kept in fixed deposit, he said, it would have only earned the NFC 2.6 per cent to 3.25 per cent returns.
Mohamad Salleh is also mulling legal action against his accusers such as Rafizi and PKR secretary general Saifuddin Nasution.
Both Barisan Nasional (BN) and opposition lawmakers have called for heads to roll over the scandal, with the latter group urging Putrajaya to axe Shahrizat from the Cabinet.
--TheMalaysianInsider
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