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Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim revealed on Saturday (8 August) that he blocked the sale of a Felda-owned hotel in the United Kingdom two months ago.
The proposed sale price was £100 million, while the original purchase price, he said, was £160 million.
That would have meant a loss of £60 million, or roughly RM330 million.
Anwar said he refused to sign off on the deal and ordered Felda management to explain who approved the original purchase.
“What kind of business is this? Selling an asset for less than what it was bought for,” he said at the Semarak Kenegaraan programme in Terendak Camp.
He tied the losses to the struggles of Felda settlers, who he said still lack basics like air-conditioning, school repairs and stable incomes.
“If we fail to act, the institutions that we are proud of and committed to protecting will eventually deteriorate,” he said.
However, former Felda chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek, whose term ended in late June, says the numbers don’t add up.
Felda Hotel Was Allegedly Never Put Up For Sale
Shabery told Sinar Harian that no proposal to sell a Felda hotel in London was ever submitted during his tenure.
Felda owns four properties in London, he said – two hotels and two student accommodation blocks.
On top of that, none of those four properties was bought for £160 million, according to Shabery.
He suggested the confusion may stem from mixing up the value of a single property with the value of Felda’s entire London portfolio.
“I am concerned that the prime minister has been wrongly advised or that someone is trying to take advantage,” Shabery said.
He added that any sale of Felda assets requires sign-off from the Finance Ministry and an advisory committee under the Prime Minister’s Department.
It cannot be a unilateral decision by Felda management, says Shabery.
Anwar, who also holds the finance portfolio, said Felda management had approached him about the sale two months ago.
He has since demanded a full report on the matter.
For now, the two accounts leave a gap as to whether a £160 million hotel purchase – and a near £60 million loss – ever actually existed as described.
READ MORE: Nur Jazlan: Felda ‘Obstruction’ Row Exposes Confusion Within Unity Government Framework
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Felda’s London Hotel Mystery: PM and Ex-Chairman Tell Very Different Stories
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