FGV freezes hiring of workers from external contractors

PETALING JAYA: FGV Holdings Bhd has frozen the recruitment of workers from external contractors across its operations with immediate effect.

The freeze will only be lifted when it is satisfied that contractors are adhering to all FGV’s internal policies, guidelines and standard operating procedures.

In a statement, FGV said it would also revise immediately benefits enjoyed by its plantation workers. It will absorb the cost of basic necessities, including food supplies given to its workers.

“The welfare of all our employees is of paramount importance to FGV, and to me personally,” chairman and interim CEO Datuk Wira Azhar Abdul Hamid said.

He was responding to findings by the Complaints Panel (CP) of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) that showed FGV needed to improve its recruitment and employment processes.

In a separate Bursa filing, FGV said it had commenced legal proceedings against former chairman and non-independent non-executive director Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad as the first defendant and former group president/CEO Datuk Mohd Emir Mavani Abdullah as the second defendant.

The suit relates to the purchase of two condominiums at Troika in the vicinity of KLCC and vehicles purchased and their misuse, as well as the misuse of petrol benefits.