Idris Jala report on the FGV crisis should be “Tell All” and not cover-up for Najib’s ministerial failure for five years to ensure FELDA and FGV serve the 100,000 FELDA settlers and not UMNO cronies

That was fast.

Within a week, former Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Idris Jala had completed his assignment by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, to look into the Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV) crisis.

This was revealed by Najib yesterday who said the Idris’ report would be announced at an appropriate time and he had also requested Idris to look into several steps and measures to solve the crisis.

Is Idris a superman or wonder worker in government transformation who could pinpoint the complex causes and solutions of the RM13 billion FGV crisis within a week?

Or were all the facts and information about the FELDA/FGV crisis in the possession of the Prime Minister’s Department, as the Prime Minister was directly responsible for FELDA/FGV affairs, and the real issue is the Prime Minster’s failure of responsibility to save FELDA and FGV in the past five years?

Idris was Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department serving as Najib’s Chief Executive Officer of the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) from 2009 till 2015.

How did he allow Felda and FGV to undergo such a colossal mess as to chalk up some RM13 billion losses during the bulk of Idris’ responsibility as PEMANDU CEO?

As is generally known, when FGV was first listed on June 28, 2012 confidence was so high that it opened higher than expected over its initial public offer (IPO) price of RM4.55 – closing that day at $5.30, some 16% higher than its IPO price.

But after raising US$3.1 billion (about RM10 billion then) in Asia's biggest initial public offering of the year, running against the global gloom in IPO markets, it had been downhill all the way, reflecting poor results, an extreme lack of market confidence in the share following a string of poor purchases over the years and five years of mismanagement.

I have called for a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into FELDA/FGV crisis as the Malaysian public have a right to know why Najib, as the Minister directly responsible for FELDA/FGV, had allowed the rot to fester for five long years resulting in over RM10 billion of losses.

Najib would be fully entitled to sack any Minister responsible for allowing such FELDA/FGV crisis and losses to fester for five years. Is he himself prepared to accept Ministerial responsibility for the FELDA/FGV loses?

The Idris Report should be a “Tell All” document and not be any form of cover-up of the FELDA/FGV crisis and losses, and in particular, Najib’s ministerial failure for five years to ensure FELDA and FGV serve the 100,000 FELDA settlers and not UMNO cronies.