Felda chief Isa defends London hotel purchase

Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) chairperson Isa Samad has today defended the London hotel purchase, saying the resentment to its acquisition as allegedly it was bought at a higher price was only from the DAP.

Isa, who is former Negri Sembilan menteri besar, said even Tabung Haji and the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) had bought properties in London.

“There is nothing wrong in buying property in London. This is with the exception of the DAP,” he said.

Isa (centre in photo) added that the investment made is not only to diversify but expand Felda’s credentials.

He said the purchase was made by the Felda board of directors and not through FGV Holdings which runs the oil palm business and the downstream activities.

“The hotel purchase was done by the Felda board through the Felda Investment Corporation (Sdn Bhd).

“Felda already owns eight hotels in Malaysia including in Kuala Terengganu, Trolak Mersing, Jengka, Port Dickson and also in Sabah, which we call the Felda Residence.”

To questions whether this was a bad purchase as Felda may not have any expertise in the hotel business, Isa pointed out that Felda is already running hotels right now.

“What expertise do you want? We also have a college for the second generation of Felda settlers training them in catering.

“Maybe we can send some of them to London to undergo further training,” he defended, adding that the hotel’s occupancy is very good at 80 to 90 percent.

DAP secretary-general and Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng has previously questioned the purchase of the Grand Plaza Service Apartment which he claimed exceeded the market price by RM100 million.

KPF dividends to be announced after EGM

Isa was speaking to reporters at a press conference after Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak officiated a coffee table book entitled 'Meneroka Impian, Mencapai Wawasan', by the premier’s mother Rahah Mohd Noah.

Also present were Najib, his wife Rosmah Mansor, and FGV Holdings president and chief executive officer Mohd Emir Mavani Abdullah and Felda general manager Faizoull Ahmad.

On questions whether settlers would be given high dividends of between 15 to 16 percent annually from Koperasi Permodalan Felda Bhd (KPF), after it agreed to the sale of its 51 percent stake in Felda Holdings Bhd to FGVH, Isa said that the matter would be announced following the FGV extraordinary general meeting (EGM), scheduled later this month.

“This will be decided in the EGM this month, and after the EGM we will make the announcement.

“On our part, it is not under Felda, and KPF will explain further on this. This will depend on the situation, and in terms of dividends, that would depend on the Cooperatives Commission's advice,”Isa said.

Meanwhile, responding to questions on the FGV stock market prices, Mohd Emir (right) said he remains confident that there will be a positive showing of its prices early next year and it was currently too early too speculate.

FGV has an IPO price of RM4.55 when it was listed last year. Presently, it is hovering at RM4.44.

Najib: People envious of Felda's success

Earlier, during his speech, Najib pointed out that other countries had failed to emulate Felda’s success and this was due to the backing and strong political will by his father, Malaysia’s second prime minister Abdul Razak Hussein, in seeing it through.

Among Felda’s achievements, he said, included its unique concept in opening land, uplifting settlers, opening new land development area, giving opportunities to second generation of settlers and the success of FGV’s listing exercise.

“The FGV listing is the third largest IPO listing in the world and this represented Felda's success,” he added.

Meanwhile, Isa stated that Felda’s success shows the success of the Malays, and this should be defended at all times from sceptics, such as members of the opposition, who criticised Felda's successes.

“However, they (the opposition) will continue to attack Felda as it remains the Malay and Umno bastion,” he warned.