'Secret' deal between 'Sugar King' and Felda?

Did Malaysia's sugar king sell his company to a Felda subsidiary?

This is the question posed by Indera Mahkota member of parliament earlier this week in parliament, urging the government to come clean on claims that Robert Kuok’s Malaysia Sugar Manufacturing Co Sdn Bhd (MSM) had been 'secretly' sold to Felda Global Ventures Holdings Sdn Bhd (FGVH).

“Felda is an important government linked company. Why was the total purchase not announced openly? Which agency has done the asset valuation and liability assessment on the company?” questioned Azan Ismail.

Azan alleged that the government had deliberately hidden the deal from public until a series of price hikes which also affected sugar to be raised by 20 sen.

According to reports, FGVH had also purchased Kilang Gula Felda Perlis Sdn Bhd, a land of some 5,800 hectares in Chuping, Perlis and a 20 percent stake in Tradewinds (M) Bhd, totalling some RM1.5 billion.

It was also understood that Kuok, Malaysia's richest man, had gone ahead to purchase CSR Limited, the largest sugar exporter in Australia.

“Currently, if Felda wants to import sugar from Australia, the agency will need to buy from the company owned by Kuok. This is meaningless to Felda because in the end, if there’s a hike in sugar price in the country, Felda will be blamed.

"At the same time, profit has been made by the same people, who are Barisan Nasional’s cronies and reaped benefits from decades of sugar monopoly in the country,” Azan was quoted as saying by Suara Keadilan's online edition.

Azan said the profits from such a hike would definitely be used to fund Barisan Nasional’s general election campaign.

Azan said the government now appeared to appease Malays by alleging that the purchase of the sugar company by Felda was for their own benefit.

“The Malays should not be taken in by this action. The purchase of Kuok’s sugar factory by Felda will not ensure the fate of the Malays will be cared for. We don't know who are the interested parties in this transaction and who made the profit," he said, adding that documents related to the deal be revealed.

- Harakahdaily