Reveal full details on NT cattle property investment, Yong urges SEDC

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Yong holds up a printout of the ABC News Australia report.

KUCHING: Pending assemblywoman Violet Yong is demanding the Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) to publish the full details on its investment in Northern Territory (NT) cattle property Carmor Plains on the floodplains east of Darwin, Australia.

Yong said she would give either SEDC or the Sarawak Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government seven days to do so, failing which she would personally walk up to SEDC’s office to get the full details of the transaction.

She believed that for any substantial monetary transaction or investment there was sure to be a report on it.

“Come on SEDC or the Sarawak GPS government, don’t tell me there wasn’t any report or study done on this investment scheme.

“If SEDC continues to evade or conceal further facts it will create more suspicion among the people of Sarawak pertaining to the whole deal,” she told a press conference at DAP headquarters here today.

Yong said now that the purchase price of the cattle property had already been revealed by news outlet ABC News Australia, she wanted to know how much was the loan amount, what was the interest rate and what were the installment terms.

She said given that four years ago, in 2015, the Malaysian Auditor-General reports revealed that SEDC lost $2.8 million between 2009 and 2013 in their previous so called ‘Rosewood cattle farming investment’, SEDC should be transparent on the new investment.

“Now, to convince the people that the purchase of NT Cattle property Carmor Plains is a good investment, a good deal, then come on SEDC and the Sarawak GPS government, be frank and transparent on the whole matter,” she said.

Yong said ever since the news of SEDC’s purchase of a cattle property was published a few months ago, she had demanded for the full details of the investment including raising the issue in the recent State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting, but both SEDC and the Sarawak GPS government had remained silent.

She noted that on May 22, ABC news Australia reported that SEDC had paid $20 million Australian Dollars or between RM58 and RM60 million for a cattle property Carmor Plains, best known for its hunting and wildlife.

The report said Rosewood Station, owned by SEDC, had settled the transaction for the 41,500-hectare Carmor Plains this month.

According to the report, the $20 million price tag for Carmor Plain was met with surprise by some in the Top End cattle industry.

The last time it changed hands, back in 2001, it sold for just $2.8 million.

An industry figure suggested that it would be difficult for SEDC to make a profit from such a large sum paid for a relatively small piece of land, the report said.

“All this money belongs to the people and it is not their (SEDC) personal money. So the people have the right to know how they spent it, the way they spent it and the returns they will get from this investment,” she said.