THE Federal Land and Development Authority is drowing in humongous debt. To be exact, RM8.05 billion as at end-June as reported by the New Straits Times.
Set up on July 1, 1956, to eradicate poverty among the rural poor through the cultivation of oil palm and rubber, Felda has been taken down the path of abject failure by politicians and top officials trusted with managing the company. When it was listed in 2012, FGV Holdings Bhd (formerly known as Felda Global Ventures Holdings), hit RM5, but as this paper goes to the press, it is a mere 0.84 sen. Has the blood, sweat and tears of the poor settlers come to nought? We hope not.
However, the government must not repeat the disastrous practice of the previous administration. Otherwise, it will be a case of the proverbial fence feeding on the padi: Harapkan pagar, pagar makan padi (Loosely translated: you place your trust in someone, but he betrays you).
The sad saga at IMDB, Felda and Lembaga Tabung Haji and other organisations is a manifestation of an old infection: rewarding allegiance. Or to put it more crudely, rewarding political patronage. Such people owe fealty to the political bosses who put them there, not to the entities that give them their pay cheques.
What is more, as has been alleged, these “vassals” slowly but surely made the entities they ran into an important cog in the political wheel of the day. In the case of Felda, money that should have rightly gone to the struggling settlers headed elsewhere.
In his first media conference on Sept 21, newly appointed Felda chairman Tan Sri Megat Zaharuddin Megat Mohd Nor put it bluntly: “Felda’s cashflow (is) almost empty”.
As this paper reported yesterday, the sad tale of Felda will be tabled in Parliament next Monday in a White Paper. It is a disturbing tale of political interference, poor governance and incompetent investment decisions.
As we know today, there are many black marks in the bleeding books of the plantation giant but one ugly transaction stands out: the purchase of a hotel in Kensington, London for an inflated price of RM330 million when the market price was only RM110 million. Many questions will be asked and hopefully the White Paper will answer them. Moving forward, the government must do something more. It must put an end to appointing square pegs and politicians to run entities such as Felda. Political patronage must be put to permanent sleep.
For the future, only competent professionals must be appointed to run these companies. Felda, Tabung Haji, Petronas and similar companies are too vital for the future of the country. Our nation or at least a good section of our nation stands or falls with such entities. We cannot allow them to fail. Putting square pegs and politicians in positions of power is an invitation to the fox to look after the hen house.