Felda settlers to hit PM's office with listing protest

About 1,000 Felda settlers will rally outside the Prime Minister’s Office after Friday prayers to protest against the proposed listing of Felda subsidiary, Felda Global Ventures Holdings (FGVH) on Bursa Malaysia.

According to the PKR Felda and natives bureau chief Suhaimi Said (left), a memorandum outlining the settlers’ concerns on the potential loss following the listing will be submitted to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak after the protest.

One of the concerns, Suhaimi pointed out, is the Felda Plantation Sdn Bhd’s attempt to secure land belonging to FGVH on a 99-year lease.

“The 850,000 sq ft of land which is supposed to be distributed to the children of the settlers, will all be secured to FGVH for 99 years.

“So the second or third generation of settlers would have no hope of getting any land thereafter,” he said.

Suhaimi claimed that the land is not owned by Felda but was granted by state governments to the Felda board of management for development purposes.

“Felda does not own any grant to the land, so in what position can they lease out the land to somebody else?” he asked.

Apart from the settlers, PAS-linked settlers NGO Anak will also participate in of the protest.

Felda settlers own 51 percent of Felda Holdings through Koperasi Permodalan Felda (KPF).

Under the listing plan, the settlers are required to swap their shares for a 61 percent stake in FGVH.

However, a group of settlers who are opposed to the listing have successfully obtained an injunction recently, preventing KPF from discussing the listing of FGVH.

The government has since announced that it will proceed with the listing, planned for June, without KPF as FGVH is wholly-owned by the government and is not obligated to get KPF’s consent.