KUALA LUMPUR (May 19): The federal government has not blocked the alleged private offer to donate two million doses of Sinovac vaccine to the Penang state government which has since been found to be a scam, said Khairy Jamaluddin today.
In a virtual press conference today, the Coordinating Minister for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme said that channel checks with Sinovac found that no contact had been made as alleged by the supposed donor, Hong Kong-based Xintai Development Enterprise Ltd.
A company search also found that Xintai Development Enterprise did not exist as it was not registered in Hong Kong, the minister said.
Khairy was responding to an allegation by the Penang state government that the federal government had blocked the offer, which it received via a letter on Feb 1 from one Yong Chee Kong with an address in Kota Kinabalu.
“The offer is bogus. It is completely untrue. We checked with Sinovac and they have no dealings with the company. We checked with company records in Hong Kong, and the company does not exist. No one even knows who Yong Chee Kong is.”
Interestingly, Khairy said that his ministry also received a similar letter from Yong on Feb 9 for a similar donation offer — two million doses of Sinovac vaccine — but to the Sabah state government. He added that the offers were made when the government had yet to approve the Sinovac vaccine.
“If the Penang state government can prove that this donation from Yong Chee Kong is legitimate, I will give the approval [for the donation] immediately for them to bring in these vaccine [doses],” Khairy said.
More to follow
