Puad: Dr M and Muhyiddin didn't care about Felda when in power

Umno Supreme Council member Puad Zarkashi said today Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad and president Muhyiddin Yassin cared little about Felda when they were in power in government.

In a statement, Puad said Mahathir almost privatised Felda and Muhyiddin saw it as a legacy of "Tun Razak", the father of current Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

"In his (Muhyiddin's) recent Facebook post, he had asked about plans to rescue Felda. My question is, does Felda need rescuing?

"When Muhyiddin was the deputy prime minister, he did not pay attention to Felda. Felda issues were not in his heart. That is why, in his recent post, he used the word "probably" a lot, which showed that he was making more assumptions than stating facts. This also shows how much he "cared" about Felda when he was the deputy prime minister," Puad said.

He then continued to slam Muhyiddin as doing the same when he helmed the Education Ministry.

"He (Muhyiddin) never visited rural schools. He had only once visited SK Ulu Lubai (in Limbang, Sarawak), by helicopter. He was shocked when I (as the deputy minister) showed him photos of me walking through the jungles and mountains for eight hours to visit SK Saliliran in Nabawan, Sabah.

"I also questioned the decision of the ministry to appoint YTL to carry out the 1Bestarinet project for rural schools. It has been proven now that 1Bestarinet is a failure because YTL is not a main player in the telecommunications industry," Puad said.

He also claimed that Muhyiddin was unaware of other "simple" ministry policies, such as the requirement for rural schools to switch off their gas-powered generators before 9pm to conserve power.

"He only got to know after I informed him of the policy, before it was changed."

Puad then trained his guns on Mahathir, who he said paid little attention to Felda, "during his 22 years of dictatorship".

"Felda is not his (Mahathir's) legacy. In fact, he almost privatised Felda, if not for the protests of (Muhammad) Alias (Raja Muhammad - the former Felda chairperson who is dubbed the architect of Felda).

"Mahathir's policy is crony capitalism, which enriches one or two Malays, supposedly to enrich other Malays as well.

"This differs from the policies of Tun Razak and Najib, who want to take the Malay race out of poverty. Felda is one of the strategies (to achieve the goal). That is why Najib is a fierce advocate of Felda," Puad said.

He added that Mahathir and Muhyiddin were quick to criticise Felda and the recent initiatives announced by Najib for Felda settlers, as they know the policies were actually good for the Malays.

Last month, Najib announced a list of goodies for settlers of Felda, which has of late, become embroiled in various scandals. - Mkini