KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Ueri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil yesterday denied any sort of involvement with the controversy--embroiled National Feedlot Project.
Shahrizat, the former women, family and community development minister, said that she was not even aware that her husband, National Feedlot Corporation Sdn Bhd (NFC) executive chairman Datuk Seri Dr Mohamed Salleh Ismail, had submitted a bid to operate the national cattle farming scheme through Agroscience Industries Sdn Bhd.
"My husband did not discuss with me and I was not aware that he was bidding for the NFC project. The NFC is a commercial project and I was never involved in the approval process or the running of the company," she said when testifying at the High Court in her defamation suit against Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) strategic director Mohd Rafizi Ramli and PKR women chief Zuraida Kamaruddin over the NFC scandal.
Shahrizat further testified that she never participated directly or indirectly to assist her family in securing the project, and her family never requested her assistance to secure it.
Throughout the testimony, various news reports that were published since the NFC scandal was brought to light, were pointed out by Umno Wanita Chief's lead counsel Datuk Seri Dr Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, while she explained why she finds them defamatory.
Shahrizat said that the malicious attacks against her were made with the objective of gaining political mileage in view of the impending general elections.
"I believe that the opposition calculated and designed to make me the primary target of their attacks. It has never been about getting the truth."
Judicial Commissioner Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera set Aug 10 for the trial to continue.