YOURSAY 'Noh Omar, we are not playing ‘masak-masak' here. Before you even think of new bids, you have to clean up the ‘cow dung' left by NFC.'

Minister: New bids not a cover-up of NFC scandal

your say Onyourtoes: Agriculture Minister Noh Omar, your obstinacy knows no bound. We are telling you, it can't be done this way. The government cannot give soft loans, bear the risks and be responsible for projects that are obviously the domain of private entrepreneurship.

When are you going to get it? You can never give someone's money to do a project where the costs and the burden of the risks are all borne by the government. It is not just Umno Wanita chief Shahrizat Abdul Jalil's family who has behaved the way they have.

If the project had been given to any other party, the results would still be the same - it is the same moral problem when those given money to do business are not responsible for the risks.

At most, if the state wants to help, it could just provide state land - on TOL (temporary occupation licence) basis - for cattle farming.

But the risk of importing the cattle, rearing them and supplying the beef to the market should be entirely handled by the entrepreneurs, using their own money and taking their own risk.

This is Finance 101, something that three-quarters of the cabinet members have not the slightest idea of.

CiViC: If the objective was to increase the production of beef (as if it's the staple diet of Malaysians that makes it so bloody important), then why was NFC allowed to ding-dong for years with no progress, and Noh Omar being the minister did not say or do anything about it?

Don't just talk : Minister Noh, what about the RM250 million soft loan given to National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) that is owned by Shahrizat's family?

Is it to be a one-time written-off loan just like the MAS' RM589 million loan given to the airline's former chief Tajudin Ramli?

What about the three private condos in Orchard Rd and Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, purchased for over RM34 million or the two high-end condos in Bangsar costing RM14 million? Does Shahrizat's family get to keep them?

And do the new bids for the cattle-breeding project also get another round of RM250 million soft loan and if that is so, can anyone tender for the project or is it reserved for Umnoputras only?

Anonymous #62211637: It's very simple - the way to do it is to import beef from Thailand.

Chokchai farm in Thailand is an excellent example for Malaysians to learn from with regards to the farming and breeding of cattle for meat and milk. There, the entrepreneurs have the right stuff.

In Malaysia, they only know how to take money: they have to pay the brokers who take part in it, then the cronies and then all the other cheapskates too will get a cut. NFC failed because the intent wasn't there to start with.

Beef in Thailand is produced very well, it's healthy and tastes good too. It's the same with their poultry, the pork and so on. Brands like S-Pure, HyMeat, to name a few, are all very competitively priced and affordable. It is the case similarly with eggs production.

It is disgraceful how some Malaysians take public funds when they have no business acumen and only have a crook mind to try to spend it for other purposes. This is exactly what has happened with NFC. Shame.

Khoo Chooi Thuan: If the government cannot get the fundamentals right, there is no way they can solve this problem.

First, we must be able to secure cheap and abundant feedstock in the country. If they can't, then they are just throwing good money for bad business.

However, minister Noh doesn't have the brains to do it right, so I cannot blame him.

Frankie Tan : Upon approval of the project, why did the RM250 million soft loan given in full? Where in the world can this kind of project, which is done on a progressive basis, be disbursed in full?

It's just like when you buy a house - the loan approved by the bank is disbursed based on the amount of work done and paid directly to the developer, not the house owner.

You disbursed NFC in full so that the ‘commission' could be paid in one go, isn't that right?

2cts Worth: Noh Omar, we are not playing ‘masak-masak' (kid's play) here. Before you even think of new bids, you have to clean up the ‘cow dung' left by NFC.

Get it standing upright and its finances returned. If you have no idea how to do that, just jump into the Klang river and let someone capable take over.

Unspin: Do not believe a single word what Noh Omar says because their game plan is as follows:

1) Award a ‘new' contract to a friendly XYZ company,

2) give another soft loan, say, about RM200 million to XYZ,

3) sell off the properties that are under the names of Shahrizat's family members (say, worth RM50 million),

4) XYZ lends Shahrizat's family the balance of NFC's soft loan that was embezzled,

5) Shahrizat's family ‘repays' the soft loan to government,

6) Umno announces to all and sundry that Cowgate is resolved, and finally,

7) all cheating and CBT charges against Shahrizat's husband will be dropped due to lack of evidence.

Sarip Meon : Noh Omar, you speak like a conman. Instead of calling for new bids, you should be going step by step: first, you should recover the RM250 million with compound interest from Shahrizat's husband and children.

Let there be an official confirmation of the recovery from the Finance Ministry (not from the Finance Minister Najib Razak, please).

Then you should publish in the newspapers a call for individual applications from potential cow breeders and cattle-rearing experts from all over the country. Get their working papers and if found suitable, award the project to several of them.

Am I talking to an imbecile? I think it would be better that I become the agriculture minister.

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