There is still no offer of settlement from Perlis Umno liason chief and Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Shahidan Kassim and two others over a purported breach of contract suit brought on by a businesswoman for the purchase 60,000 rice cookers.

It is understood that there have been no offers made to settle the suit when the matter came up for case management before the High Court in Kuala Lumpur today.

Following this, Judicial Commissioner, Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh, fixed Nov 3rd for further case management in order for him to give further directions to the parties. The trial dates for the matter have been fixed for Feb 5 and 6 next year if no settlement is reached. 

It was reported that Florence Lee Jye Wen had named Shahidan, along with Padang Besar MP Zahidi Zainul Abidin and Perlis Umno treasurer Rozabil Abdul Rahman as defendants, as she claimed Perlis Umno had allegedly ordered 60,000 1.8-litre rice cookers emblazoned with Umno and Barisan Nasional logos and Shahidan's initials ‘DSSK’ two years ago.

In her statement of claim filed last April, Lee claimed a sales representative approached her saying Perlis Umno was interested in buying the rice cookers, for which she produced the said logo, measuring 2.5 inches by one inch, and showed to Shahidan's secretary in May 2015.

She said approval was obtained several days later in a June 3 official letter from Perlis Umno signed by its organising secretary, Kamarudin Abdul. The letter reportedly stated that Shahidan approved the purchase of 60,000 units, with 20,000 units each to be distributed to the constituencies of Arau and Kangar.

Considering that to be a confirmation letter, Lee processed the RM4.4 million purchase, and proceeded to place an initial order for 10,000 rice cookers, with all units ready to be delivered on the instructions of Perlis Umno by June 2015.

However, only 2,000 units were eventually ordered by Perlis Umno to be delivered between Oct 23, 2015, and Apr 6, 2016. It is alleged that the remaining 8,000 units were neither collected nor paid for.

As a result, Lee is claiming a total of RM592,000 for the 8,000 rice cookers, special damages of RM36,511.40 for the cost of storing the units, and continuing costs of RM2,750.35 to keep the units, which cannot be sold off elsewhere due to the customised labels.

She is also seeking general damages for the order of the remaining 50,000 units, to be assessed by the court.

The defendants in their statement of defence denied entering into a contract to purchase the rice cookers nor the issuance of the official letter dated June 3.

They further claimed that the plaintiff failed to acknowledge the order, hence no agreement exists between her and Perlis Umno.

They also claimed that the businesswoman failed to deliver the rice cookers within the stipulated time.