KUALA LUMPUR: Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd’s (FGV) decision to suspend its president and chief executive officer, Datuk Zakaria Arshad, was made based on concerns over governance and was not an effort to “victimise” him.
Acting chairman Tan Sri Dr Sulaiman Mahbob said this in response to claims made by Suara Generasi ke-2 Felda@Facebook, which he dismissed as baseless, since FGV’s board of directors has no hidden agenda.
“We have no intention of bringing anyone down. We (took) action based on (concerns over) governance and (the) facts.
“This is about (Zakaria’s) actions on the sales issue… it is a technical matter. (Suara Generasi ke-2 Felda@Facebook’s) comments are baseless and inaccurate.
“We are a public-listed company and duty-bound to protect shareholders and stakeholders, which includes them – the settlers,” he told the New Straits Times today.
Dr Sulaiman said Zakaria’s actions were not in keeping with internal procedures and could have led to bad debts and reduction of profits, thus the reason why he is being investigated.
“I do not want to say that they are being emotional, but just look at the facts,” he added.
On Monday, the group’s adviser, Datuk Zulkefli Nordin, said Sulaiman and FGV’s board of directors appeared to be influenced by “old hands” in the company.
Zulkefli had demanded their resignation in order to remove any doubts about the running of FGV, saying that it would pave the way for new office bearers to steer the company in the right direction.
Felda settlers, he added, were disappointed with Sulaiman’s decision to retain existing board members, who seemed intent on continuing former FGV chairman Tan Sri Isa Samad’s legacy.
Sulaiman was appointed last month to succeed Isa, who was made Land Public Transport Commission acting chairman.
On June 6, several senior FGV officers, including Zakaria, were instructed to go on leave following a boardroom tussle allegedly triggered by the issue of delayed payments from Afghan company Safitex to FGV subsidiary, Delima Oil Products Sdn Bhd.