Directors of several key departments in the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) were transferred out because they "support former director-general Zulkifli Wahab", Anak president Mazlan Aliman claimed today.

mazlan aliman anak Mazlan, whose NGO champions the rights of second generation Felda settlers, said the reshuffling at Felda involved the directors of the land, human resources and finance departments.

"They have been put in 'cold storage' at the Gedung Makanan Programme starting today," he said, adding that "insiders" informed him that about 20 other transfers were in the works.

However, he is not certain who the officers to be transferred out would be.

Mazlan revealed last year that Zulkifli was forced to go on study leave, purportedly over his disagreement with Felda chairperson Isa Samad on the listing of Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV).

Poor commodity prices

On a related matter, Mazlan, who is also a PAS central working committee member, said expectations of a drop in palm oil prices would undermine FGV's ability to meet its commitments to Felda.

He speculated that this could mean that settlers would see a cut in payment rates of up to RM20 per tonne of oil palm sent to FGV for processing.

A dip in commodity prices has cut settlers' earnings from up to RM5,000 a month to RM1,500 a month, he said.

"I challenge Ahmad Maslan, the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of Felda, to address this matter, which will affect 112, 653 settlers, and not quibble on petty things like whether Anak is registered with the Registrar of Societies," Mazlan added.

Meanwhile, FGV share price has hovered at RM4.76 over the past two weeks after it fell to a new post-IPO (initial public offering) low of RM4.57 last month – just two sen above its issuing price of RM4.55.

The share went back up, likely due to heavy buying from the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), which raised its stake in the company from 5.4 percent to 7.57 percent.

However, it is still way down from its post-IPO peak of RM5.50 in July.