Audit Finds Sharizat Jalil's Family Made Mess of National Cattle Farming Project

Kuching
Wednesday, 26th October 2011

This what PM's "1Malaysia-People First Performance Now" really means!

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 25 — A RM73.64 million government project — linked to minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil’s family — to create Malaysia’s “Beef Valley” has turned into a mess, a federal audit report said.

The Auditor-General’s Report, released yesterday, showed that the National Feedlot Centre (NFC) set up in 2008 in Gemas, Negri Sembilan failed to hit its target of breeding 8,000 cattle last year.

Under the 9th Malaysia Plan, the centre is expected to produce 60,000 cattle by 2015.

“An audit check found production in 2010 was only at 3,289 heads of cattle or 41.1 per cent,” the report said.

The audit was conducted between January and March this year.

Among the reasons cited were the NFC corporation’s poor management including its failure to train 130 farmers for the project, the 5,000-acre farmland in Gemas being overgrown with thorny acacia shrubs, and poor use and maintenance of its facilities.

Auditor-General Tan Sri Ambrin Buang also said the ministry’s initial main operator, Lamberts Agricultural Trade (M) Sdn Bhd, had backed out of the project, a move that contributed to the dismal performance.

The NFC is a joint-venture between Negri Sembilan and federal government through the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry (MoA) to commercially produce more beef domestically and cut down import of the meat.

Previous media reports showed the MoA picked a company called Agroscience Industries Sdn Bhd, owned by Shahrizat’s husband, Datuk Dr Mohamad Salleh Ismail, to spearhead the project, under a company called National Feedlot Corporation Sdn Bhd (NFCorp).

Mohamad Salleh is also NFCorp’s executive chairman.

Shahrizat’s (picture) three children, Izran, Izmir and Izzana, also play key roles in the NFCorp, the Malay Mail reported on June 24 this year. Izran is CEO while his brother and sister are executive directors.

The family-controlled beef project is marketed under the label “Gemas Gold” and can be found on the menus of several family-owned restaurants in the Klang Valley.

The audit report also found NFCorp did not finalise the standard operating procedure or implementation agreement in 2010.

It noted NFCorp claimed it could not do so because the government has yet to build an abattoir capable of slaughtering 350 heads of cattle a day.

The audit report said the Treasury completed a study on the slaughterhouse on April 5 this year to be presented to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

The audit report noted that two factories related to the project have yet to be built, namely the livestock feed factory that was part of the pilot project under the entrepreneur development programme, and a bio-gas factory to process waste from the abattoir and the feedlot into fuel for the farm.

The report stressed infrastructure upkeep as the most important factor for the project’s success and recommended the MoA devise a “Blue Ocean” strategy to boost its cattle breeding production to meet the original 60,000 target by 2015.

Mupok Aku

Laporan Ketua Audit Negara 2010: Kem 1 Divisyen di Muara Tuang Bernilai RM214 Juta Terbengkalai

Kuching
Tuesday, 25th October 2011

Tidak percaya sungguh bagaimana kem yang bernilai RM 214 Juta dan telah dilanjut sebanyak 3 kali masih belum dapat disiapkan. Sebagai seorang bekas pegawai tentera, dari luar saya sangat bangga melihat kem ini. saya telah menyiarkan gambar-gambar kem berkenaan di 1Malaysia-Photogallery. Tetapi apabila terbaca laporan Ketua Audit bagi tahun 2010,  saya merasa sangat  kesal dan malu ini kerana kema yang sepatutnya menempatkan . ibu pejabat 1 Div serta sebuah pasukan elit infantri  10 RRD walaupun dari luar nampak telah siap sepenuhnya tetapi  hakikatnya masih belum ssiap sepenuhnya selamat untuk dihuni.

Projek pembinaan Kem Muara Tuang, Sarawak yang eslesai pada Februari tahun lalu, masih belum lengkap dan beberapa kecacatan serta kepincangan mula terserlah, kata Laporan Ketua Audit Negara 2010.

Menurut laporan itu, hanya 95.7 peratus berjaya disiapkan meskipun kerajaan telah membenarkan tiga kali lanjutan tarikh akhir untuk projek bernilai RM214.43 juta.

Pasukan audit juga mendapati kerja-kerja dijalankan tidak mengikut spesifikasi yang ditetapkan.Antaranya, kayu yang tidak berkualti digunakan, kecaccatan kerja-kerja konkrit, kerja lepaan simen yang nipis dan bahan-bahan kalis air mula tertanggal.

“Berdasarkan pemerhatian tersebut, pihak Audit telah memberi teguran kepada perunding/kontraktor dan pada bulan Mac 2011, Tim Projek memaklumkan bahawa tindakan telah diambil oleh kontraktor untuk membaiki kerja tersebut.

“Sekiranya kerja yang tidak mengikut spesifikasi/tidak berkualiti yang dibangkitkan tidak diperbaiki, pihak Audit akan mengesyorkan kepada Kementerian supaya nama perunding dan kontraktor ini disenaraihitamkan,” petik laporan itu.

Kontraktor berkenaan Konsortium Jendela Hikmat Sdn Bhd (JHSB) juga didapati belum  membayar bon pelaksanaan RM10.72 juta, seperti yang dikehendaki oleh Kementerian Kewangan untuk projek-projek yang bernilai melebihi RM200, 000.

JHSB, yang telah dianugerahkan kontrak berkenaan pada Mei 2006, memberi alasan seperti kenaikan kos bahan-bahan pembinaan akibat perkembangan ekonomi yang tidak menentu memberi kesan kepada nilai tanah yang dibangunkannya.

Mupok Aku