Samsudin: Felda board not informed of transfer of ownership

JOHOR BARU: The board of directors of Felda was not informed of the transfer of ownership of Felda land in Jalan Semarak, Kuala Lumpur.

National Felda settlers chief Samsudin Othman said the board was only briefed on the proposed development on the prime land by the previous Felda management.

He said this includes details on the components of the development including a high-rise hotel that could generate income for Felda.

“The board had given its approval (for the project) but we were not duly informed of who was behind it,” Samsudin said at a press conference Wednesday.

Samsudin sits on the Felda board and represents the Settlers Consultation Committee which represents some 112,635 settlers from 317 Felda settlements nationwide.

He said other than details of the Kuala Lumpur Vertical City (KLVC), and the approval given, they did not know who was behind the project.

“The previous management of Felda was not transparent when making any business decisions and they did not consult us,” Samsudin alleged.

He said the committee only knew of the dubious Jalan Semarak land deal from newspaper reports.

He said the board would have objected to the project had it known earlier that the ownership of the land had been transferred.

Felda was at risk of losing over RM200mil from the dubious land deal in 2015, according to earlier reports.

The land title transfer is believed to have occurred after Felda Investment Corporation had appointed a local company as the main developer on June 3, 2014, and awarded it full power of attorney to develop the land.

The police have set up a special task force to investigate the matter.