Felda's RM2 billion number puzzle

By Patrick Lee
PETALING JAYA: Land rights activist Mazlan Aliman fired another round of salvos at Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Ahmad Maslan for the latter's explanation over the controversial Felda issue.
Ahmad had said Felda had taken out RM3 billion from its cash reserves, with the bulk of it – RM2 billion – being used for replanting crops, housing loans purposes, and building a new Felda headquarters.
“Where did he get this RM2 billion number from?” Mazlan asked. “It is the replanting fund that should take care of replanting crops, not cash reserves,” said Mazlan, who is also the president of the National Children of Felda Settlers Association (Anak) and a fierce critic of the Barisan Nasional.
He was barred from entering Felda settlements during the Hulu Selangor by-election.
According to Mazlan, about RM40 was deducted from the salary of every settler every month. The money is kept in the replanting fund, managed by Felda.
Although the fund remained in Felda's hands, Mazlan said that it actually belonged to the settlers.
He also questioned Felda's purported RM253 million contribution to the Sabah poverty eradication fund.
“How is this fund relevant to Felda? Felda isn't very big in Sabah. In fact, the largest concentration of Felda estates are located around Lahad Datu.”
“If Felda wanted to eradicate poverty in Sabah, why didn't it use the profits from the Lahad Datu estates instead of dipping its hand into the cash reserves? It just doesn't make sense.”
On Felda's new “five-star office”, Mazlan said the existing Felda headquarters in Jalan Semarak was enough, and there was no need for another building.
He told FMT that the building's original price was RM640.7 million, but was recently increased to RM662 million. He added that the true price of the headquarters was about RM500 million.
“I can confidently say that the bulk of the cost was misused for political gains,” Mazlan said. “Felda, like Petronas, is all about increasing BN's image. Look at it now.”
On irregularities in Felda relating to the RM3 billion cash reserves, Mazlan said that Anak's members would lodge a report with the police district headquarters in Temerloh at 10am on June 23.