Addressing the Felda Conundrum in Pakatan Harapan’s First White Paper
Pakiam, Geoffrey K. | March 2019
Abstract
Once the crown jewel of Malaysia’s rural development drive, the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda)’s settler schemes are now approaching an inflection point. Years of gross corporate mismanagement, depreciating farm assets, and indifferent commodity prices have strangled the organisation’s cash flow to the point where it claims it can no longer afford to pay its settlers, staff and contractors on time. To help stave off Felda’s apparent looming bankruptcy, Malaysia’s new Pakatan Harapan-dominated parliament is due to table a much-anticipated White Paper before mid-April 2019, proposing strategic solutions to Felda’s current malaise. Settler representatives hope that the federal authorities will generously favour Felda settlers, turn back the clock, write off a large amount of settler debt, and help the group reclaim key assets now under the purview of FGV Holdings Bhd (FGV).
Post-GE14, the Pakatan-led government, however, is saddled with broader responsibilities that complicate responses to Felda’s current woes. These include obligations to FGV’s new management and institutional shareholders, which besides Felda and related agencies (who together hold 38.8 percent of FGV’s shares), extend to statutory Islamic investment fund Lembaga Tabung Haji (7.78 per cent), public sector pension fund Kumpulan Wang Persaraaan (Diperbadankan) (7.83 per cent) and the state governments of Pahang (5 percent) and Sabah (4.07 per cent). Some form of compromise between different sectoral interests is virtually guaranteed, and will involve federal funding in one form or another. Paradoxically, this tricky situation comes just when Pakatan is facing an unprecedented opportunity to win the hearts and minds of rural Malay voters; an opportunity that may not be on offer again for some time.
Citation
Pakiam, Geoffrey K.. 2019. Addressing the Felda Conundrum in Pakatan Harapan’s First White Paper. © ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute. http://hdl.handle.net/11540/9814.ISSN
2335-6677
Keywords
Regional Development Finance
Public Scrutiny of City Finances
Non-Bank Financial Institutions
Local Government Finance
Government Financial Institutions
Foreign and Domestic Financing
Financial Risk Management
Assessing Corporate Governance
Good Governance
Governance Approach
Finance
Public Finance
Governance
National Budget
Budgetary Policy
Educational Budget
Public Financial Management
Financial System
Financial Statistics
Public Accounting
Business Financing
Subsidies
Social Equity
Economic Equity
Project Risks
Project Impact
Public Administration
Corporations
Taxation
Public Debt
Local Government
Debt Management
Corporate debt
Taxation
Public Accounting
National Budget
Municipal Bonds
Local Government
Taxation
Public Debt
Local Government
Debt Management
Pension Funds
Mutual Funds
Social Equity
Financial Aspects
Fiscal Policy
Investment Requirements
Banks
|Taxing power
Tax administration and procedure
Tax policy
Effect of taxation on labor supply
Decentralization in government
Community power
Corporate divestment
Civil government
Delegation of powers
Equality
Neighborhood government
Subnational governments
Delivery of government services
Local taxation
Options
Government
Local government
Taxation
Employee pension trusts
Investment management
Investments
Multiemployer pension plans
Keogh plans
Individual retirement accounts
Pension plans
Employee pension trusts
Pension trusts
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