NAFAS - National Farmers Organisation - but why is an ADUN(State Assemblyperson) of Pakatan Harapan - Parti Amanah sitting as the Chairman of the Board of Directors - is he a farmer? Wonder how much monthly allowance he is getting as Chairman of the Board of Directors, in addition to his pay/allowance as ADUN? Political Appointment? Kleptocracy - enriching own party leaders, friends and family?
Look at the Board of Directors - is there really no Chinese Malaysian farmers - or is NAFAS only catering for the Malay or Bumiputra 'farmer' - surely a Farmers' Organisations ought to be led by a farmer ...but the Chairman of the Board is YB. Dato' Haji Phahrolrazi bin Mohd Zawawi -Pengerusi Ahli Jemaah Pengarah - well, he is a Parti Amanah ADUN.
NAFAS is governed by Statute(Law) - FARMERS' ORGANIZATION AUTHORITY ACT 1973 or is it FARMERS' ORGANIZATION ACT 1973?
In any event, we have been informed about wrongdoings and abuses involving FELDA, LUTH,... maybe it is time for a thorough investigation into NAFAS and the related 'farmers' organisation to see whether there were similar abuses during the reign of the Barisan Nasional government.
The new Minister is from Parti Amanah - and it looks like the Board of Directors may all be 'political appointees' - when really, if it truly is a farmers organization, should not the leaders be democratically elected from amongst the farmers? The Ministry officers could be there to provide advice and assistance...
The law seems to PROHIBITS the registration of other Farmers Associations - and one needs at least 50 members to register an association > Should not these RESTRICTIONS be all removed to allow farmers to form their own organisations - and the limit of 50 is absurd - the limit should reasonably be the same as any society or trade union ...not more than 10.
How many farmers are really members and beneficiaries of these farmer organisations - all should be so that benefits from government should flow to all farmers...We know that many farmers may not be fluent in Bahasa Melayu - so, should not NAFAS website content also be available in all the other Malaysian languages - Chinese, Tamil, Iban, Kenyah, Dusun...for farmers come from all the different ethnic and/or language groups in Malaysia..
NAFAS CONTROVERSY
- Well, the Minister writes a letter to Prime Minister asking that the RM1.4 billion contract be given to NAFAS.
Issues:-
* Is the Prime Minister under PH still able to 'influence' or decide on who gets billion dollar tenders? Should this not be done by an 'independent' committee, who will consider all applicants and award tender accordingly...Open tender? The fact that this Minister(from parti Amanah) made such a request to the PM is very disturbing for a new Malaysia ...
* Minister said he followed procedures ...is writing letters to PM to give contract to you part of the procedures in an open tender application?
* Who should be given the contract - If it is to supply a fertilizer - question is whether you are producing that fertilizer, if not the one who receive the contract is just a 'middle man' who have to get a fertilizer from another - would it not be easier and cheaper to source the fertilizer from the producer directly? Many different kind of fertilizers - maybe many different smaller contracts? Distribution to end-users > maybe again that should be a separate contract? Or maybe, distribution to end users should directly be handled by the MInistry - after all NAFAS may just give their members - not the other farmers who are not members?
NAFAS claims that it has 921.931 members - maybe we need to confirm that they are truly farmers...?
Where is the NAFAS audited accounts?
- NAFAS used during Tanjong Piai elections? Investigate whether the program was planned before the demise of the former MP or not?
One major concern during the rule of BN was the political appointment of politicians to government agencies and companies... people who sometime did not even have past experience in the particular field - people who were paid monies ... Sharing wealth of the people to your party members, ADUNs and MPs is wrong, in my opinion.
In my opinion, it is best that MPs, Senators and ADUNs are full time 'wakil rakyats' and should receive no other income or monies from any other sources.
I’m ready to face the law, says agriculture minister over Nafas contract
AGRICULTURE and Agro-based Industries
Minister Salahuddin Ayub is ready to face the full extent of the law if
it is found illegal to ask for a contract be awarded to a
government-controlled farmer’s group.
“Until today, the open tender process has not been finalised. No company has been awarded the contract.
“What I did was according to procedure, I followed the rules,” Salahuddin told the Dewan Rakyat today.
“The power to award the tender is in the hands of the Finance
Ministry. If I have broken the law, let the law take its course,” he
said in response to a question from Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff (Rantau
Panjang-PAS).
Salahuddin is under fire from the opposition over his decision to pitch Nafas to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
“Yes, it is true I wrote to the prime minister. I wrote as it is my responsibility to do so,” he said.
He added anyone can bid for the contract as long as the tender is open.
“It is the process. As long as the tender process has not been completed, anyone can come and meet me,” he said last Friday.
Salahuddin has been under fire for writing the letter asking that
Nafas be awarded a contract to supply fertiliser for the rice-planting
industry.
Wee Ka Siong (Ayer Hitam-BN) has accused the ministry of trying to
award the contract through direct negotiation instead of open tender.
He said Salahuddin has violated Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) own policy of
implementing open tenders for all forms of government procurement.
Wee added the tender process is closed and the contracts are already
awarded when Salahuddin wrote the letter to the prime minister.
As a result, the initial contract, which has been awarded to private companies, is cancelled, said Wee.
Salahuddin today reiterated he is doing his duty as the agriculture
minister to help Nafas, a body that represents 920,000 farmers across
the country.
Under him, Nafas has been revived in January after being suspended in June 2018, after PH took office.
The suspension was for the authorities to investigate alleged abuse of power and fraud that turned up during a special audit.
“In our revival of Nafas, we made sure it is operating with more
transparency and that it follows the rules,” said Salahuddin, adding
that the body has been changed from a cooperative to a public company.
“As agriculture minister, it is my duty to take care of Nafas as it
relates to the welfare of our farmers. Nafas is controlled by the
government.
“If it gets a government contract, it will continue to look after farmers by giving them good dividends.” – November 26, 2019. Malaysian Insight
Agriculture ministry denies interference in RM1 bil padi project
8
KUALA LUMPUR: The agriculture and agro-based industry minister and
his deputy do not interfere in the awarding of contracts to any party,
Parliament heard today.
Deputy minister Sim Tze Tzin stressed this point today when rejecting
the allegation by Wee Ka Siong (BN-Ayer Hitam), made during the debate
on the Supply Bill 2020, that three contracts connected to a padi
project, exceeding a total value of RM1 billion, had been cancelled
because the minister allegedly wanted to award the project to the
National Farmers Organisation (Nafas).
Sim said the tenders in connection with the project were being validated by the finance ministry.
He explained that in accordance with procedure, after a tender was
approved at the ministry level, it needed to be validated by the finance
ministry, after which the minister would issue a letter of acceptance
to the successful tenderer.
According to a finance ministry circular dated June 29, 2018, any
tender exceeding RM50 million in value, requires the ministry’s
validation, Sim added. - FMT News,21/11/2019
Minister: Nafas booked hotel rooms in Tanjung Piai for roadshow, not by-election
Agriculture
and Agro-based Industries Minister Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub speaks to
reporters at the Parliament lobby, November 26, 2019. ― Picture by
Miera Zulyana
KUALA
LUMPUR, Nov 26 — Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub said the National Farmers
Organisation (Nafas) he is accused of favouring had booked hotel rooms
in Tanjung Piai close to the by-election for unrelated events in Johor.
The
agriculture and agro-based industries minister told Parliament that the
roadshows were in conjunction with the 2019 National Farmers, Breeders
and Fishermen's Day (Hari Peladang, Penternak Dan Nelayan Kebangsaan
2019 or HPPNK).
He also pointed out that the booking dates did not coincide with the by-election campaign between November 2 and 16.
“We
booked the hotel rooms until October 30 or October 31st. After that was
the election campaign, which Nafas was not involved in, and the
roadshows were held in Simpang Renggam, in Pontian, in Benut, and
others,” he said in response to Rantau Panjang MP Siti Zailah Mohd
Yusoff.
The
minister added that Nafas was still facilitating activities related to
the HPPNK in Johor, with another event at Plaza Angsana in Johor Baru
this Thursday.
Salahuddin
also encouraged rival MPs to lodge reports with the police and the
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) if they suspected corruption
or impropriety within his ministry.
Siti
Zailah earlier asked Salahuddin to say why Nafas had booked 38 hotel
rooms in Tanjung Piai allegedly during the by-election.
MCA
president Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong first made the allegation of
impropriety in the hotel room bookings last week when he accused
Salahuddin of seeking to award RM1.4 billion in contracts directly to
Nafas.
Wee alleged that Salahuddin was favouring the group because it included members of the latter’s Amanah party. - Yahoo News
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