WHY is Felda still doing business with a company that was involved in suspicious dealings that nearly resulted in the land reform authority losing ownership of prime land in Jalan Semarak, Kuala Lumpur?

This was the question posed by Felda settlers’ group, Anak, as 
allegations surfaced that the agency will lose ownership of the land despite a settlement last week.   

Anak, a group of second generation Felda settlers, said the agency must explain why it was going ahead with a mega project with the same company that allegedly gained ownership of the land via a shady deal.

Anak president Mazlan Aliman said Felda itself had claimed that there were elements of fraud in the 2015 land transfer deal involving former Felda officials and Synergy Promenade Sdn Bhd (SPSB).

“The company has been accused by Felda of being involved in fraud,” Mazlan told The Malaysian Insight.   

“But the company is allowed to continue with the KLVC (Kuala Lumpur Vertical City) project. A project which (Felda chairman) Shahrir Samad himself opposed.   

“So when Felda said that the issue had been settled and it had regained ownership of the land, it caused confusion and was the butt of jokes,” Mazlan said.

Felda lodged police reports last December alleging that the ownership of 16 plots of land in Jalan Semarak, Kuala Lumpur, worth RM270 million, had been transferred in a suspicious transaction in 2015.

The transfer, for which Felda did not receive a single sen, was made to SPSB, the appointed developer of KLVC.   

Last week, SPSB offered to return ownership of the land  to Felda at no cost.

Shahrir said the developer had also returned the relevant documents for the land to be registered again in Felda’s name.

While work on KLVC would continue, Sharir said Felda would be re-negotiating the terms and conditions of the project.

However, Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli has claimed that only a portion of the land would be returned to Felda.

When construction of KVLC began, the land was already sold to the developers, said Rafizi.

The Pandan lawmaker said that as approval was given for the construction of KLVC, the land was now owned by the developer and the buyers of individual lots that had been built .

Mazlan said there were still many questions surrounding the terms of the Felda-SPSB settlement.

“There is still much mystery surrounding the issue – it’s as though they are trying to hide something. They are not being transparent. To me, the issue is not settled.” – January 24, 2018.