Deputy minister, PAS leader face off over Felda funds
By Clara Chooi, The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, July 8 — A deputy minister and a PAS leader, both second-generation Felda settlers, faced off during a joint press conference in Parliament today over whether they would meet in a dialogue or a debate to discuss Felda’s financial issues.
The two — Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Ahmad Maslan and National Association of Felda Settlers’ Children (Anak) president and PAS leader Mazlan Aliman — sat together in the press conference to exchange letters addressed to one another, with the former seeking for a dialogue and the latter insisting on a debate instead.
The topic of their meeting is to revolve around the alleged misappropriation of funds in the land development authority’s declining cash reserves. Felda has admitted that its RM4.08 billion cash reserve in 2004 has dwindled to RM1.35 billion last year, but argued it was for investments and a RM2 billion replanting programme.
While the two maintained their composure during the press conference and even posed for pictures when exchanging their respective letters, they eventually launched into a two-pronged tirade on the merits of having a debate and a dialogue.
Ahmad explained that debates were merely publicity stunts that did not seek to solve actual problems.
“Debates are on sentiment. They are not out to find solutions. We can debate for two hours tops but dialogues can run for two days,” he pointed out.
Mazlan, however, shot back and said that he wanted the people to be the judge in the debate, and wanted them to hear the truth on the issues faced by Felda, the world’s largest plantation operator.
“I have personal reasons for preferring the debate. To me, having a dialogue is out of the question. Out of the 317 Felda plantations, I have visited at least 90 per cent of them and I have received plenty of feedback from the settlers.
