FGV board in for a shakeup?

A NEW chairman has been appointed to head Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV), ahead of a crucial decision that the plantation company is due to make on the fate of its president and chief executive officer Datuk Zakaria Arshad.

Datuk Wira Azhar Abdul Hamid was appointed as the new chairman of FGV, replacing Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad yesterday.

Azhar is no stranger to the plantation business, as he had headed Sime Darby’s plantation arm before and at one stage was seen as the candidate to head the conglomerate.

After Sime Darby, Azhar went on to head MRT Corp and resigned after an accident in the Sungai Buloh stretch of work.

Azhar’s entry into FGV is no surprise, as it had already been speculated. However, his entry just before the plantation company is due to make a key decision on Zakaria is rather interesting.

Zakaria and three others have been told to go on leave since June 6, pending an investigation into delayed payments by one of FGV’s trading partners from its operations in Afghanistan.

Zakaria has disputed the fact that the amount due cannot be re-claimed from the Afghan company as its headquarters was in Dubai. The CEO of FGV also has said that Mohd Isa had called for his resignation, something he felt was beyond the authority of the former chairman.

The government has the prerogative to appoint the chairman, CEO and a director in FGV being the owner of the golden share in the plantation company.

After Mohd Isa’s departure, Tan Sri Sulaiman Mahbob, who is an economist by training, was made acting chairman of FGV.

Only on Tuesday did FGV come out with a statement stating that the fate of Zakaria and the three others would be known next week. So, things are looking bleak for Zakaria and amongst the reasons are that he spoke out against the former chairman.

However, there are now changes to the FGV board.

Hopefully, this translates to a better and more stable FGV and puts to rest the fate of Zakaria and his three colleagues.