White Paper on Felda's woes due in Parliament

Focus will be on how plantation agency came to incur debt mountain since $3b IPO

Felda was set up to help millions of poor Malays become successful planters, and more than 112,000 poor Malay families have since become owners of at least 4ha of plantation land each. PHOTO: NEW STRAITS TIMES
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A White Paper on Felda is set to be tabled in the Malaysian Parliament when it sits on Monday, outlining how the state-owned plantation agency found itself mired in debt and losses after it was listed on the stock exchange in 2012.

The Straits Times understands that the Felda White Paper (FWP) will centre on the RM10 billion (S$3.3 billion) IPO of the world's largest crude palm oil producer - which at the time of issue was second only in size to Facebook - and how RM6 billion raised by Felda was frittered away. The FWP, delayed since the end of last year due to legal issues, is likely to be tabled just before the month-long sitting of Parliament ends on April 11.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on March 09, 2019, with the headline White Paper on Felda's woes due in Parliament. Subscribe