PETALING JAYA: Former prime minister Najib Razak has questioned why TH Plantations Bhd (THP) is going ahead with selling its assets, especially now that Pakatan Harapan (PH) is no longer in power.
Najib voiced his disappointment at THP’s decision, saying one of the main reasons the people had opposed the PH administration was because of the sale of the country’s assets, including Tabung Haji’s.
In a Facebook post, he also pointed out that none of the sales approved during PH’s time in Putrajaya had been terminated by the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government.
“THP announced that they will continue with the plan made during the PH government to sell 74% of their land and this process is expected to be completed in 12 months’ time.
“THP’s reason for selling their assets at the time was that the company was suffering losses due to low palm oil prices, between RM1,600 to RM1,800 a tonne. Now, THP has notched profits again after prices went up to RM3,400 a tonne,” he said.
He said THP’s latest reason to proceed with the sale was the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, Malaysia’s border closures, and the restriction on foreign worker intake, which had affected production.
“Approval for foreign worker intake is under the government’s jurisdiction. As a government-linked company, why didn’t you plead with the PN minister to obtain approvals for foreign workers if you couldn’t get locals to fill their places?” he asked the company.
Yesterday, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Ahmad Marzuk Shaary said Putrajaya might consider terminating THP’s assets sale as there were many matters that needed to be reviewed.
He said the sale of THP’s assets would not resolve the company’s debt burden, adding that the company would instead require a debt restructuring to manage its cash flow.