Parliament committee reveals corruption worth millions in company privatization

The committee for agriculture, irrigation and fisheries in the Parliament has discovered a corrupt deal worth YR1,800,000,000 involving the General Company for Seed Production in Sayoun. 

The committee has revealed that the company was sold for only YR87 million, to investor Mohamed Hussein al-Hadad, contrary to the recommendations of the Prime Minister and the Agriculture Minister that seed production land is not included in sold assets.  

The privatization supreme committee and their technical office are accused of violating law 45 of 1999, and not informing Parliament with the sale documents, conducting the negotiations with one investor instead of five, and of ignoring the Central Organization for Control and Auditing (COCA) during the dealings.   Engineer Abdlmalik al-Arashi, Deputy Minister of Agriculture,
 
said in a special statement to the Yemen Observer that the Joint Agriculture Parliamentarian committee will study the report. Sources said that the transaction might be canceled if the report’s information proved to be true. 

Privatization officials declined to comment on Parliament’s allegations, however the office sent an anonymous fax to the Observer, saying that the report is still under discussion in government, assuring that there are no legal violations and that all procedures were undertaken according to the law.
 Regarding the YR1,800,000,000 mentioned in the report, the office said that it is an unrealistic sum. The committee discovered that a consultative audit office is involved in updating the seed production company’s accounts up to the end of 2003. 
 
The agricultural parliamentarian committee manager and ruling party member, Mohamed al-Shadadi, called on the government to hold accountable all those who are involved. He asked that all those involved in selling the land in 2005 in each of the ministries of Finance, Agriculture, the technical privatization office and the Hadramout deputy governor for Wadi and Desert Affairs be referred to the public wealth prosecution. He confirmed that the investor al-Hadad had no right to the seed production land.

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