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KUALA LUMPUR – National Feedlot Corporation Sdn Bhd (NFCorp) executive chairman, Datuk Seri Mohamad Salleh Ismail told the high court here today that the National Feedlot Centre (NFC) is a viable and a good project because it involves national food security issue.
Salleh, 74, however, said the supply and production of beef by NFCorp was halted when the government suspended the project in May 2009.
“If the government adhered to Schedule 8 of the implementation agreement, which was to construct an export quality abattoir (EQA) for this project, the project would have been successful.
“From the perspective of NFCorp, had the government executed what was agreed in Schedule 8 of the implementation agreement of this project, this project could take off. However, there was no abattoir built at that time,” said Tan Sri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil’s husband.
He also added that the government has yet to terminate the implementation agreement.
Salleh said this when reexamined by his counsel Datuk K. Kirubakaran at the hearing of the government’s suit against NFCorp to recover RM253.6 million in loan repayment and interest from the company over the project in Gemas.
Asked by his counsel over the failure to pay back RM253.6 million loan to the government, Salleh said he cannot pay the said loan as there is no beef production.
Salleh, who is the second defendant, said NFCorp, however, had not breached the loan agreement due to failure to pay the first instalment in 2012 as scheduled.
“My Lord, it is true as stated in the schedule we have to pay the loan after a three-year period in 2012.
“However, it depend on the beef production. Without (it), we were not able to pay the loan and we actually wrote to the government asking for payment deferment,” he added.
Under the loan agreement, NFCorp was supposed to repay RM17 million annually from 2012 to 2028.
When judge Anand Ponnudurai asked why NFCorp did not build the EQA if the government failed to build it, Salleh answered: “The cost is about RM60 million which we don’t have”.
In its suit, the government named the NFCorp as the first defendant, while Salleh and his three children, Wan Shahinur Izran, Wan Shahinur Izmir and Wan Izzana Fatimah Zabedah, as the second to fifth defendants, respectively.
The other defendants are six companies controlled by Salleh’s family, namely National Meat & Livestock Corporation Sdn Bhd, Real Food Corporation Sdn Bhd, Meatworks Corporation Sdn Bhd, Agroscience Industries Sdn Bhd, Asian Bioscience Corporation Sdn Bhd, and Technology Imageware (M) Sdn Bhd.
The government claimed that it signed a loan agreement on a total of RM250 million with NFCorp on December 6, 2007, to finance the costs of establishing and operating the NFC in Gemas as part of its policy to develop and increase beef production.
The loan was disbursed in three tranches and Salleh’s family was claimed to have made 10 withdrawals amounting to RM18.51 million from January 24, 2008, to January 3, 2011.
The hearing continues on March 15 next year. – Bernama, November 10, 2022
