Najib ‘destroyed’ Felda, says ex-deputy minister
By Patrick Lee, Free Malaysia Today
PETALING JAYA: In a scathing open letter, the former deputy minister of land and cooperatives Tan Kee Kwong has accused Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak of “destroying” Felda.
Felda or the Federal Land Development Authority is a government agency tasked with handling the resettlement of rural poor into newly developed areas.
In his letter, first sighted on the popular blog “People’s Parliament”, Tan said: “I publicly accuse Najib of single-handedly destroying Felda.”
Contacted later, the former Gerakan leader and ex-Segambut MP, who is now with PKR, told FMT that the letter was penned in a “moment of anger and frustration” after learning of some new information 10 days ago.
According to Tan, Felda’s cash reserve was around RM4.5 billion in 2004, but the amount has since declined by RM200 million. He blames Najib’s “mismanagement” of the scheme for this.
He also claimed that Najib’s real intention to helm Felda was to have access to its huge hoard.
“The sacrifices (in the Felda scheme) have all gone down the drain. Felda was a world-class name many years ago. It’s (just) utter rubbish,” he said.
Asked if he had documents to back his claim, Tan expressed confidence in his source and challenged the government to probe the matter.
