Felda chairman earns a whopping RM2 million a year :Sivarasa

Malaysia Chronicle

In the doghouse for allegedly misusing land settler’s hard-earned money, Felda took another blow when PKR vice president Sivarasa Rasiah revealed that its chairman earned as much as RM2 million per year, more than most settlers would ever make in their lifetime.

“We have information that Tan Sri Mohd Yusof Noor makes up to RM2 million a year. We are talking about his income as chairman of Felda, who also controls the subsidiary companies,” Sivarasa told Malaysia Chronicle.

“Is it true or not that his income, including salaries and allowances, reaches up to RM2 million a year? We are waiting for him to respond, just tell us ‘yes’ or ‘no’.”

No longer unquestioning

Felda is controlled by the Umno-led government, and is under the direct charge of Prime Minister Najib Razak. It manages about 480 settlements around the country with 112,635 settlers.

Of late, public confidence in the agency has suffered after it reported a 67 percent plunge in cash reserves from RM4.08 billion in 2004 to RM1.35 billion in 2009.

Land settlers were not appeased by its explanation on how it spent the cash. According to Ahmad Maslan, the deputy minister overseeing Felda, RM2 billion was spent on replanting crops, while there were also investments in property in Malaysia and overseas.

In particular, Felda’s purchase of a swanky new RM662 million headquarters in Kuala Lumpur caused unhappiness, because the vendor Naza TTDI is known to have strong connections to the Umno elite.

“The fear among the settlers is why Felda is spending money on overseas properties and the luxurious HQ. Why doesn’t it use the cash to improve the Felda facilities or for research and technology into high-yielding crops. Are they trying to benefit any cronies?” said PAS secretary-general Hatta Ramli.

Duit raya

To nip in the bud the settler’s growing dissatisfaction with his government, Najib announced on Friday that a total of 101,391 Felda settlers will receive RM350 each for Hari Raya.

A total of 11,244 other settlers within Felda settlements, who carried out replanting but not through Felda, will receive RM150 each.

“I hope that the payment will help ease the burden of settlers in their preparation for Aidilfitri. I would also like to take this opportunity to urge settlers who are no longer with Felda to return to the agency and help develop the settlements,” said Najib.

The prime minister added that the bill for the duit raya would cost the government RM37.14 million.

Earlier this week, in what is seen as the tip of an ice berg, some 766 settlers sued Felda for RM200 million for underpaying them over oil extraction prices for the past 15 years.

More lawsuits are expected to erupt at Felda settlements nationwide due to growing dissatisfaction at how the government has been making money at the expense.