Claims that the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) is in dire straits are untrue, said its chairperson Shahrir Abdul Samad.

Felda still has assets worth RM22 billion, he pointed out.

"Felda's assets are worth RM22 billion, which is a lot of assets, but current assets are probably in the vicinity of RM3 billion and non-current assets are those like real estate and development.

"This means we are not in dire straits, not to mention those assets are not required for us to do our duty, our main responsibility," Shahrir said during a forum titled 'Where is Felda Heading' organised by BN Youth Volunteers (BNVY) in Kuala Lumpur last night.

He added that Felda's many assets, most of which are in the UK, are seen as irrelevant to the Felda settlers and he is considering selling them off.

"The hotel(s) in London, I have never been (there) and even if I have, maybe (to) two or three only. The others I have never been.

"It (the assets) do not help the settlers' livelihood, which is our focus, it does not increase or decrease their earnings.

"That means the assets are irrelevant to the settlers, so I am in the process of selling the hotel and there is already an agent to handle this," Shahrir said.

He is also considering selling off Felda's shares listed on the Bursa, he said.

"We still have listed shares on the Bursa which can be sold, we have land we can sell.

"Land which we bought 10 years ago for various reasons, which didn't materialise or the plan fell through, we can sell those too, so that we can truly focus on our duties and main responsibility," he said.

Such steps, Shahrir said, would help lessen the deficit of nearly RM1 billion since 2015 which the agency has had to bear, and it would also return Felda to its roots of protecting the wellbeing of the settlers.

In terms of revenue Felda remain in deficit

The costs Felda has to bear which exceeded its income is the reason for the deficit, despite making earnings from the agency's businesses, he explained.

"If you look at Felda's businesses, meaning direct earnings, then we did earn.

"But in terms of revenue, we remain in deficit, every year more than RM1 billion," he said.

However, Shahrir stressed that their revenue is used for programmes specifically for the Felda settlers.

"It might be a deficit, maybe Felda made losses, but this is not because of the businesses but because of the money spent for all the programmes we want to do and have done," he said.

Felda has seen changes since Shahrir's appointment as its chairperson in January this year.

It witnessed a management reshuffle in the agency's efforts to go back to looking after the wellbeing of its settlers.

Shahrir replaced Mohd Isa Abdul Samad, whose tenure as chairperson ended in Dec 31, 2016, though he remains the chairperson of Felda Global Ventures (FGV).