KOTA SAMARAHAN, April 9: Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein denies allegations by former Federal Minister Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz that all land under the Ministry and the army are owned by a three-person company.
Responding to reporters this afternoon on Rafidah’s allegations made through an open letter published last night, Hishammuddin said he was utterly disappointed with her allegations, adding that it was full of misinformation and in some parts contained outright lies.
“I see that these allegations on a company run by three persons owning every inch of Mindef’s (Ministry of Defense) assets in Malaysia — that is strictly not true and a blatant lie.
“In her letter (which said) these three persons are alleged to make decisions on Mindef and ATM (Malaysian Royal Army) land is also untrue and an outright lie. Also her allegations against me that we are going to look at Mindef’s land for a large scale commercial agricultural project, is also untrue and an outright lie.
“I only thought of food security with the Agriculture Minister, and that was two or three years ago, but since then nothing has happened.
“For her to make these false statements, I don’t know what her objectives are but today based on the very limited time for me to check the open letter, those are three things I can answer directly to what she claimed.
“She is very irresponsible, and for a former member of the cabinet who was part of the country’s decision-makers who had pledged allegiance to the government during her time, is very disappointing,” said Hishammuddin.
He said he had instructed officers from Mindef to reply to the open letter, and had also asked the Federal Cabinet to look into details contained in the letter and Rafidah’s allegations and get to the bottom of it. — DayakDaily
