Ahmad Said and the RM800 million disaster
Why buy over an ailing oil palm plantation in Indonesia with money Terengganu or TDM did not have? Maybe a more pertinent question would be: how much did Ahmad Said receive in what Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad calls “set-off”?
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin
How much did Ahmad Said receive in kickbacks for his RM800 million Kalimantan disaster?
Ahmad Said became the Menteri Besar of Terengganu on 25th March 2008. Two weeks later, he entered into a deal for TDM to buy over an ailing oil palm plantation in Kalimantan, Indonesia.
The total investment, all borrowed money, came to RM800 million, an investment which Terengganu could ill afford.
TDM to acquire oil palm land in Kalimantan
(Bernama, 11 April 2008) – TDM Bhd has signed a heads of agreement (HOA) with its subsidiary PT Rafi Kamajaya Abadi and Bapak H. Rahman to acquire another 30,000ha in West Kalimantan for oil palm plantation development.
In an announcement to Bursa Malaysia, TDM said PT Rafi was incorporated as the special-purpose vehicle for the purpose of acquiring and developing land into oil palm plantation and to operate oil palm business in Indonesia.
“Under the HOA, PT Rafi will further acquire about 30,000ha in Kecamatan Nanga Pinoh and Kecamatan Belimbing, West Kalimantan and to develop the land into oil palm plantation,” it said.
When Ahmad Said was removed as MB in May 2014 he resigned from Umno and tried to bring down the Terengganu State Government by proposing a “Unity Government” with PAS but Abdul Hadi Awang rejected the “offer”
Why buy over an ailing oil palm plantation in Indonesia with money Terengganu or TDM did not have? Maybe a more pertinent question would be: how much did Ahmad Said receive in what Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad calls “set-off”?
Because of that disastrous decision, TDM is still suffering from indigestion due to swallowing something bigger than its stomach could handle. Its total liabilities are RM761,750.00 against total assets of only RM350,187.00 — what some would call a “technically bankrupt” company.
MB Ahmad Razid Abd Rahman had been unsuccessfully trying to sell off the bleeding Indonesian investment since 2014
The Kalimantan investment is a major disaster and since 2014 then Menteri Besar Ahmad Razid Abd Rahman has been unsuccessfully trying to sell off the oil palm plantation company.
Yes, Ahmad Said sunk RM800 million into quicksand and now TDM cannot get itself out of it. And that RM800 million debt still remains unpaid.
That was why Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak was pressured by the Istana into removing Ahmad Said, which caused a major political crisis in Terengganu and almost brought down the Umno State Government if not for Abdul Hadi Awang’s “help” .
READ MORE HERE: The Raja Bahrin-Ahmad Said saga in Terengganu
Ahmad Said’s legacy which the PAS State Government and TDM needs to clean up to save the company from going bankrupt
