Agriculture Minister Effendi Norwawi might not have been given a proper briefing by his officials on the government's decision not to disburse what is left in the JE Trust Fund to the pig farmers affected by the 1999 Nipah virus outbreak.

DAP secretary-general Kerk Kim Hock today said that Effendi could have made a 'sincere error' when asked to comment on the report that he (the minister) was not aware of the remaining RM18 million in the fund.

The Sun today reported Effendi as saying that all monies had been disbursed as promised and he had no idea about the claims made by the pig farmers.

On Tuesday, pig farmers who were affected by the deadly Nipah outbreak threatened to highlight their plight during the upcoming state elections campaign in Sarawak if the government refused to distribute the balance of the fund to them.

According to Kerk, parliamentary secretary to the Agriculture Ministry Abu Bakar Taib last month told Parliament that the government would keep the balance of the fund for compensation purposes if dangerous outbreaks like the Nipah virus were to occur again in the future.

Kerk said the statement made by Abu Bakar could not be something off the cuff because it was a prepared reply by the ministry to his question regarding the fund during the parliament's adjournment session.

Abu Bakar had also said that public donations to the fund amounted to RM155.7 million of which RM136.2 million has been given to the pig farmers as of July 10 this year.

He added payments amounting to RM1.54 million to nine people in Negeri Sembilan and 10 in Selangor are still being processed.

"It cannot be a mistake. Effendi was probably not aware," said Kerk today.

Promises delivered

Kerk, who is Kota Melaka MP, explained that Effendi had admitted in Parliament in March last year that he was not aware of the plight of pig farmers who did not receive their compensation when the matter was brought up in the House.

"He was sincere in saying that and promised that he would check (on the matter). Knowing Effendi, this (yesterday's statement) could be another sincere error," he said.

Effendi, who is the Kuala Rajang MP, assumed the post of agriculture minister after the 1999 general elections.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Chua Jui Meng, when asked to comment on the issue today, said the government had been very sympathetic to the plight of the affected pig farmers and compensated them adequately.

He explained that the government's JE fund was administered not by his ministry, but by the Agriculture Ministry.

"If there are still unresolved problems, then this would have to be addressed by the minister of agriculture as the fund is under his ministry. He would be able to give you better answers on this," Chua said.

The minister added that as far as he knew, the government had delivered all the promises they had made with regards to the JE fund.

Kerk, however said Chua should not pass the buck to Effendi because prior to the Teluk Kemang by-election last year, both ministers had promised the pig farmers that all monies in the fund would be disbursed to them.

"Chua has to make a stand whether the government should give them the remaining cash in the fund," he said.

Industry crippled

Kerk added that the government has no reason to keep the money as it came from public donations.

The bulk of the public donations came in the form lottery sales conducted by three gaming companies - Magnum, Pan Malaysian Pools and Sports Toto - which contributed a total of RM139 million to the fund.

"I'll discuss the issue with Effendi," Kerk said. "I'll seek an appointment with him if necessary."

The deadly Nipah virus outbreak in 1999 claimed more than 300 victims, of which 100 died.

The outbreak affected not only the health of the people in Bukit Pelanduk but crippled the entire pig-farming industry in Negeri Sembilan, said to be the biggest and most lucrative in Southeast Asia.

Most of the former pig farmers who are in their 40s now lost their livelihood as the industry collapsed. Some have dabbled in prawn-farming while others opted to work in factories.