Muhyiddin Yassin says the police and MACC probe into the project was sufficient.
PUTRAJAYA: The government will not set up a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) to investigate the scandal-plagued National Feedlot Corporation (NFCorp).
Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said today police investigation and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) probe into the RM250-million publicly-funded cattle rearing project should be enough.
He added that the RCI demands were only a political gimmick of the opposition.
“Maybe the opposition wants to see the programme fail, so that it can claim it’s right,” he told a press conference here, adding that Putrajaya had also hired an audit to look into the matter.
He also rebutted allegations of corruption, saying that the project needed only “some improvements” to invigorate it.
Earlier, DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang called on Malaysians to pool their efforts and pressure the government into setting up a RCI on the matter.
He specifically targeted Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, Muhyiddin and Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, saying they should be held responsible for this “grand conspiracy” of a scandal.
The NFCorp fiasco was first highlighted in the 2010 Auditor-General’s report. An English daily had described it as a “mess” although the A-G had later denied using the term, saying the project merely had weaknesses and needed improvements.
Opposition parties, particularly PKR, then began a series of exposé linking Shahrizat’s to allegations of abusing state funds meant for the project.
The party claimed that at least RM27 million was used for land and property purchases as well as expenses unrelated to cattle farming by Shahrizat, the Wanita Umno chief, and her family.
PKR also alleged that Shahrizat’s family had used nearly RM600,000 from NFCorp’s funds to settle their credit card bills in 2009.
NFCorp immediately issued a denial and maintained that the credit card expenses were solely for business purposes.
The assault on Shahrizat and her family members was led by PKR strategic director Rafizi Ramli and its Wanita chief Zuraida Kamaruddin. Both have since been sued by the minister over the claims.
