Japanese company not taking over NFC debt after all

VIDEO | 1:45 mins

Negotiations by a Japanese company to take over the National Feedlot Centre project as well as the National Feedlot Corporation's (NFC) debts have fallen through.

In a written parliamentary reply to Tony Pua (DAP-Petaling Jaya Utara), Finance Minister Najib Abdul Razak said this is because the parties could not reach an agreement.

"Kirimitonas Agro Sdn  Bhd offered to take over all National Feedlot Corporation assets and liabilities,” Najib said.

"This is to ensure that the NFC project will continue, so as to meet its objectives of ensuring sufficient national supply of beef. However, both parties could not reach an agreement (and) negotiations have ended.”

The National Feedlot Corporation is run by the husband and children of former cabinet minister and just re-elected Wanita Umno chief Shahrizat Abdul Jalil.

Najib in the written reply had said that Kirimitonas, a joint-venture between Otoshitos Sdn Bhd and Hannan Food Group, started negotiating with the government to take over NFC on April 19.

He said that the Kirimitonas was chosen because it had initially agreed to inject RM20 million to revive (memulih kembali) the project.

Najib also said that according to the Accountant-General’s Department, as at Sept 30, 2013, the National Feedlot Corporation had been repaying their debt as scheduled.

“The auditor-general had recommended that the government terminate the agreement with the National Feedlot Corporation, but this has not been heeded by the government,” Pua said.

He added that the minister responsible for the matter has also not been censured.

PAS’ Sepang MP Hanipa Maidin added that the government’s response appears to “cover up” the issue, as evident in the Section 203A amendment in the Penal Code passed by the House yesterday.

TI-M: Make every effort to recover RM250mil

Meanwhile, in a statement, Transparency International-Malaysia said the government should make every effort to recover the RM250 million soft loan it had given to NFC.

"By now, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak should have learnt (from) the mistake, especially after Kirimitonas decided not to take over all National Feedlot Corporation assets and liabilities," it said.

"If the venture is profitable, there is no reason why Kirimitonas would not want to take up the business deal.

"However, due to a lack of transparency in the way how the money was disbursed, and subsequently used, we do not know where the funds are now and whether it has been fully recovered."