SHAHRIR: DON’T BE IN DENIAL
FELDA chairman
Tan Sri Shahrir
Abdul Samad says FGV should ‘not be in denial’ regarding the problems it faces, adding that it was imperative that issues plaguing the company be resolved quickly so as to not affect staff morale.
JOHOR BARU: Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV) should not be in denial regarding the problems it faces.
Felda chairman Tan Sri Shahrir Abdul Samad said it was important to resolve the company’s problems quickly so as to not affect staff morale.
“FGV should not be in denial on this matter because this has to be resolved as soon as possible. The investigations on the allegations must be done thoroughly in a transparent manner.
“They (FGV) should also look at the allegations made by FGV chief executive officer Datuk Zakaria Arshad seriously,” he said after presenting Hari Raya Aidilfitri contributions to orphans, single mothers and the disabled from the Johor Baru parliamentary constituency in Kampung Dato’ Sulaiman Menteri yesterday.
“If staff morale is affected, it might make them less productive, which might affect the profitability of FGV. If that happens, the company’s share prices and dividend payment will be affected,” he said.
The controversy in- volving FGV culminated when Zakaria, who was ap- pointed chief executive officer in April last year, was forced to go on leave along with FGV group chief financial officer Ahmad Tifli Mohd Talha and two others on Tuesday. The move followed a board room tussle between Zakaria and FGV chairman Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad that stemmed from late payments by Afghan company Safitex to an FGV subsidiary, Delima Oil Products Sdn Bhd. Shahrir had, on Thursday, said that Felda’s board of directors had submitted a letter to FGV on May 26 requesting the appointment of three directors representing Felda in FGV’s board
“In a board meeting on May 23, it was pointed out that despite being FGV’s largest shareholders, Felda does not have any representative on FGV’s board. Previously, Isa, Datuk Dr Omar Salim and Datuk Noor Ehsanuddin Mohd Harun Narrashid represented Felda in the board. But since then, Isa and Omar are no longer in Felda and are considered government nominees in the board.
“Ehsanuddin has been appointed as an independent non-executive director of FGV. This means that Felda is not represented in the board of FGV,” said Shahrir.
He said he would follow up on the letter submitted to FGV next week, but said there was no deadline set for FGV to respond.
“We hope they would respond as soon as possible because this is not something out of the ordinary. Two of the directors that we plan to appoint to FGV would be from Felda’s management while the other is from Felda’s board.”
Shahrir said he was confident that with the presence of Felda representatives in FGV’s board, the company would be able to restore the confidence of investors, settlers and the general public.
“This is because Felda has the knowledge and expertise in the palm oil business, both in the upstream and downstream segments,” he said.