Umno Youth to lodge report over sale of TH Plantations’ subsidiaries
(FMT) – Umno Youth has questioned the recent sale of two TH Plantations Berhad (THP) subsidiaries to a private company based in Lahad Datu.
They claimed the two subsidiaries were sold at a loss.
During a press conference at PWTC this evening, its leader Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki called on Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mujahid Yusof Rawa, who is in charge of Islamic affairs and whose department oversees hajj pilgrims fund Tabung Haji, to explain the matter.
He also said Mujahid should clarify his stance on protecting the interests of Tabung Haji’s depositors.
THP sold their subsidiaries Bumi Suria Ventures (BMV) Sdn Bhd and Maju Warisanmas (MW) Sdn Bhd to Tamaco Plantation Sdn Bhd for a combined RM170 million. They said the price was based on a market re-evaluation based on the estates’ total plantable area.
They said the two estates had been acquired at a high cost of RM264.2 million in 2013.
It was reported that the sales were part of the company’s rationalisation efforts due to financial difficulties and debt repayments.
Asyraf said the BMV and MW estates had a combined book value of up to RM380 million in 2017, and the re-evaluated price of RM170 million meant THP had made an RM210 million loss.
He also questioned why THP sold the subsidiaries to a private company instead of to plantation company TDM Bhd, FGV Holdings Berhad or Sime Darby Plantation.
Asyraf added that Umno Youth would be lodging a report with the police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to investigate the market price re-evaluation exercise and the processes during the sale of the land to Tamaco.
He said the government, through the ministry of finance and Tabung Haji, should be assisting THP if it was facing losses.
The Edge reported in December that THP was in talks to sell some assets in Sarawak.
Asyraf said this plan accounted for 14 of their subsidiaries, or 76% of THP’s total plantation land nationwide (11,000 hectares).
He called on THP to suspend the sale of the rest of their subsidiaries, adding that Umno Youth would be filing an injunction on behalf of TH depositors.
