Idris Jala to look into FGV report before any announcement is made: Najib (Updated)
PUTRAJAYA: The report over the high-profile debacle in Felda Global Ventures (FGV) has already been completed, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak said.
Najib said former minister and Pemandu chief executive officer Datuk Seri Idris Jala would be looking into the report first before any announcement could be made.
Idris was appointed by the government last week as an independent party to look for ways to bring FGV forward.
"The report is ready but I want him (Idris) to look at some measures and options," he told a press conference after attending the National Finance Council Meeting at the Finance Ministry.
The government appointed Idris to oversee the decision by FGV to suspend its group president and CEO Datuk Zakaria Arshad, CFO Ahmad Tifli Mohd Talha and two other senior members of the management team.
A boardroom tussle at FGV has resulted in its CEO and CFO being forced to take leave of absence while investigations are conducted on alleged discrepancies which involved "many millions of ringgit".
FGV chairman Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad said letters for leave of absence were issued to Zakaria and Tifli.
Zakaria was asked to go on a leave of absence to enable the company's internal auditing team to further probe alleged wrongdoings involving several million ringgit from Delima Oil-Safitex, a company in Afghanistan but based in Dubai, UAE.
Najib said the government would come out with a proper announcement once it had gone through every aspect of the case.
"We are scrutinising all facts and the best decision would be made based on these three principles, the company's laws, good governance and fair process," he added.
On the meeting, Najib said the National Finance Council had agreed for the federal government to contribute a total RM290 million into the State Reserve Fund for the year 2019.
He added the total approved contribution into the fund for the year 2017 and 2018 were RM530 million and RM330 million respectively.
"For the record, through the 2017 Budget, the federal government had prepared an allocation of RM8.25 billion to fund various handout to all states," he said.
Meanwhile, a loose group of second generation Felda settlers today urged Mohd Isa to step down as the chairman of Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV), piling more pressure on the latter's position in the group.
Hamaruddin Abdul Aziz, 47, the spokesperson for the group, said they want Felda chairman Tan Sri Shahrir Abdul Samad to chair FGV instead.
"Mohd Isa is a huge liability to FGV. He should step down for the interest of all Felda settlers. FGV's stock has plummeted since he took over.
"We urge for Shahrir be appointed as the new chairman. We have confidence in him. And there shouldn't be any problems since Felda is also the largest stakeholder in FGV," he told a press conference, here, today.
Several quarters had previously also urged Mohd Isa to resign his post, including Suara Generasi ke-2 Felda (SGK2F) and Umno supreme council member Datuk Mohd Puad Zarkashi.