'Crystal clear' Felda listing to fatten UMNO cronies

PAS’s opposition to the listing of Felda Global Venture Holdings on Bursa Malaysia has been vindicated as it has now become clear that the real beneficiaries are UMNO's and not Felda settlers, according to PAS vice president Salahuddin Ayub.

“The 120,000 settlers who developed Felda with their sweat should have been the main beneficiaries,” he told Harakahdaily, citing the disparity in distribution of FGVH shares among settlers and government-linked investors.

It was revealed recently that Felda settlers were allocated only 2.5 percent or 91 million shares against the 11.5 percent or 420 million shares to Bumiputera investors with close links to UMNO.

Salahuddin said PAS’s past experiences in dealing with UMNO was the main factor behind the party’s strong protest over the FGVH listing.

“It helped us to predict that the main purpose of the listing is to enrich UMNO and its cronies. So-called claims that it is to upgrade the standard of living of settlers are just cosmetic at best,” he said.

Salahuddin , the Kubang Kerian member of parliament, said many were aware that the government's argument that it wanted to bring settlers out of poverty was just a farce.

“Many will not be surprised if prime minister Najib Razak in the end will be seen as the fraud architect to victimise settlers,” he added.

“It’s unfortunate that with the listing of FGVH, Felda has been turned into a lackey for UMNO and its cronies’ rent-seeking."

-Harakahdaily