SEREMBAN: The Felda White Paper which will be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat tomorrow will examine the future of settlers, apart from probing the plantation giant’s past acts of malpractice.
It will also propose a new business model for the management of Felda farms and guaranteed welfare aid for settlers.
Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali said a draft of the White Paper was tabled during a Cabinet meeting last Friday.
“The discussion was held not just to review the financial crunch faced by Felda, but also the steps which must be taken to ensure the future of the settlers,” he said.
Azmin was speaking to reporters after attending a Pakatan Harapan ceramah here, last night, as part of the Rantau state by-election campaign.
He added that the White Paper will expose Felda's real situation, which is clouded with financial constraints.
“We want the settlers to understand that while the government wants to protect their interests, they must also understand that the former management was irresponsible.
"(The Paper) will look into Felda's problems, and fraudulent and irresponsible actions taken in the past – and we hope this will shed a light on the matter,” Azmin said.
The White Paper was supposed to be tabled last December, but was postponed on the advice of the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC), which said that certain legal issues needed to be resolved first.
Azmin pointed out that other plantation companies have grown by leaps and bounds, but Felda is still struggling, and that he hopes that with the White Paper, the government will be able to turn Felda around.
“Other private plantations have made huge profits, so the question is, why can’t Felda achieve the same?,” he said.
Apart from unveiling Felda's financial standing, the White Paper will also focus on strategic rehabilitation plans with 31 initiatives as part of a transformation scheme, along with a turnaround plan that includes the sale of its properties.
Meanwhile, Azmin said that the government has no plan to set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI), as urged by Umno Youth, to investigate allegations of misconduct in the management of Tabung Haji (TH).
He said that Umno Youth should ask the previous government to investigate the matter, rather than the present government.
"I am surprised that Umno Youth did not propose the idea (the establishment of the RCI) to the previous government when TH received a reprimand letter from Bank Negara in 2018.
"Why is it that they refused to speak up in the past, (but) want to champion the issue now?" he said.
Azmin added that action taken by TH's management in paying out dividends when its assets were less than its liabilities went against TH's enactment and Act.
"Dividends are supposed to be paid if the company is profitable, but the management of TH made the payments (despite) facing impairment of assets.
"The dividends could have been paid using depositors' money. But today's government will be open on this matter to protect the depositors," he said.
The PKR deputy president added that all TH depositors are fully guaranteed by the government.
"Only this time, we can't afford to pay more dividends," he said.