Speaking at a forum about Felda issues today, Prof Gomez of Universiti Malaya said there was a real need to empower Felda settlers by carrying out long-term reforms and removing opportunities for misuse of GLCs.

Felda has been the subject of public scrutiny in recent years because of land scandals and questionable business decisions.

Among these was a controversial transfer of land at Jalan Semarak, Kuala Lumpur, for a property development project, and the purchase in 2016 of a 37% stake in Indonesia’s PT Eagle High Plantation by a Felda subsidiary.

Gomez, an expert on corporate Malaysia and politics, said politicians should not be allowed on the boards of statutory bodies, as they would end up looking after their own political interests.

Commenting on the appointment of Umno politicians to the post of Felda chairman, a trend since 2001, Gomez said he believed that came about as those in power realised the importance of having political representation in Felda.

“In 1999, we had the Reformasi movement, with a significant drop in Malay support for Umno at the general election that year,” he noted. Two years later, Umno Supreme Council member Mohd Nor Yusof was appointed Felda chairman.

Gomez said the management of government-linked organisations were best left to professionals and bureaucrats. He called for statutory bodies to be accountable to parliamentary select committees.

However, Felda activist Mazlan Aliman dissented, saying that the integrity of the person chosen to lead was what mattered.

He said Mohd Nor Yusof had brought about many improvements in Felda, and in 1992 had established Felda Plantations as a commercial plantation company.

“Under Raja Muhammad Alias, Felda did well. He wasn’t a politician. Then under Nor, who was a politician, Felda also did well. The damage to Felda came later.”

Raja Muhammad Alias, a civil servant, was seconded to Felda in 1996 and served as deputy chairman and later group chairman until 2001. He was a recipient of the Merdeka Award in 2013.