'Prime Minister Office paid for engagement do of Najib's daughter'

PKR today revealed evidence that it said shows the government footed the bill for the engagement reception for Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's daughter.

Citing a banquet event order from Shangri La Hotel, which catered for the event, PKR director of strategy Rafizi Ramli said the Prime Minister’s Office was billed RM409,767 for the reception.

"This is not a small matter. It may be just RM409,767, but it signifies the lax attitude of the government, starting from the PM to his cabinet ministers, who use taxpayers' money for the personal luxuries," Rafizi said.

According to the copies of the document provided to the media, the event billed to the Prime Minister's Office was held on June 17, 2011 at the Perdana Putra complex.

Bernama had last year reported that Nooryana Najwa's engagement to Kazakh national Daniar Nazarbayev took place at the PM' Najib Abdul Razak's official residence Seri Perdana, Putrajaya that night.

The document, which names the PM's private secretary Mohd Po'ad Jelani as the main contact person for the booking reveals that it was done under the PMO's office account.

In the billing section, Shangri La noted that the PMO was due to furnish a letter of undertaking by June 15, 2011.

The function was categorised as a 'OCS dinner', and required setting up three days before the event and pre-function drinks for that night.

Rakyat paid for PM's taste

The dinner cost RM522 per head for 36 VIP guests, and RM359.60 per head for 862 other guests, while handling charges reached a whopping RM81,000.

The menu included lobster bisque and wagyu beef, while Shangri La also catered supper for 300 people at RM45++ per head.

"I'm not sure why they didn't use National Feedlot Centre's beef," quipped Rafizi, who is at the forefront of exposes on cabinet minister Shahrizat Jalil-linked project.

However, in a Twitter posting, the PMO denied the allegations by Rafizi.

"The engagement bill of PM's daughter, Nooryana Najwa, was not taken up by the Prime Minister's Office as alleged by some quarters," read the post.

It adds that the PMO will issue a statement over the matter soon.

 

According to Rafizi, (left) Najib needs to come clean on the matter as it is clear that the PMO was used for a private function.

"Even if he paid for the event from his own pocket (later), it is still a moral issue as he cannot pay for a private function through the PM's office," he said.

He added that while it is Najib's "personal right to have expensive tastes", it is "nauseating" that taxpayers' money was used to meet it.

"At the same time the PM pays consultants to build an image of himself as someone who eats with the people and lives moderately," he said.

He added that PKR will also raise the matter at the parliamentary sitting next week.

Malaysiakini has contacted Mohd Po'ad but he has not responded so far.

When contacted by the portal to check the veracity of the documents, Shangri La said it will be in touch once it checks its records.