KPF members demand long-overdue payouts, say promises unfulfilled

Free Malaysia Today

16-05-2025

Rusnizam Mahat (centre) at a press conference after lodging a report at the Tun Razak police station in Kuala Lumpur today.
KUALA LUMPUR : Koperasi Permodalan Felda Bhd (KPF) is under fire for failing to settle share sale payments to its members, delayed for over 20 months.
Rusnizam Mahat, spokesman for the KPF members' action committee, claimed that the majority of members had yet to receive their payments despite submitting their applications to redeem their shares months ago.
According to him, many Felda settlers had invested hundreds of thousands of ringgit each in the cooperative.
'There are members who are ill and have yet to receive full payments. Some are preparing to perform the haj and are still waiting for their funds, despite submitting all of the necessary documents.
'Even more heartbreaking, some members passed away without receiving their dues. At this point, we feel like beggars, forced to plead for what is rightfully ours,' he told a press conference after lodging a police report at the Tun Razak police station here.
The committee is urging the authorities to take action.
Rusnizam said although assurances – including by KPF's management, the rural and regional development ministry, and Felda chairman Ahmad Shabery Cheek – were previously given that payments would be resolved within nine months, these promises had not been kept.
He said the ongoing delays raised serious concerns about the transparency, integrity, and accountability of KPF's management.
'The longer this drags on, the more trust the members lose in the cooperative, especially given the consistently low dividends declared each year,' he said, adding that KPF currently has more than 9,000 members.
The committee has also made several demands, including for an independent audit of KPF's finances and cash flow, a clear and transparent payment schedule for all members, and stricter oversight by the Malaysia Co-operative Societies Commission (SKM).
'If no concrete solution is offered soon, we will not hesitate to mobilise more members to escalate the matter. This includes filing a formal complaint with SKM, having the issue raised in Parliament, organising a large-scale picket involving thousands of affected members, and pursuing legal action,' he said.
Former Felda employee Syed Alwi Syed Shariff, 68, from Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, expressed his frustration and said the proceeds from his shares were meant for his retirement.
Hasmah Ahmad, 70, from Jengka, Pahang, shared her struggle as a single mother of a disabled child. She said the failure to receive the promised payment had left her in an even more difficult situation.
'I desperately need the funds. At 70, I can no longer work. That money (from the share sale) is all I have to depend on,' she said.
In July last year, Malaysiakini reported that KPF members who had not received their share sale proceeds since 2023 would begin receiving payments within six to nine months.
This assurance came after KPF liquidated more than RM200 million worth of its assets, according to Shabery.