Felda has been instructed to take disciplinary and legal action against those who have been negligent in safeguarding the interests of the government agency and its investment wing, Felda Investment Corporation Sdn Bhd (FICSB).

The Prime Minister’s Department said the forensic audit report conducted on the Kuala Lumpur Vertical City (KLVC) project showed that there was non-compliance with procurement procedures and negligence in safeguarding Felda’s interests.

"Felda has been instructed to take disciplinary and/or legal action against those named in the audit report who are found to have been negligent in performing their duties, misrepresenting and not safeguarding the interests of Felda and FICSB," it said in a statement.

KLVC is a project being developed by Synergy Promenade Sdn Bhd (SPSB) on land belonging to Felda.

The statement said the audit firm appointed to conduct a forensic audit on the project had submitted a final report to the Prime Minister’s Department on Feb 2.

The PM’s Department then tabled the report to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak (photo), as the minister responsible for Felda, on Feb 5.

"The prime minister agreed that a consultative council be set up to review the agreement between FICSB with SPSB and Synergy Promenade Kuala Lumpur Vertical City Sdn Bhd (SPKLVCSB)," it said.

Domestic enquiry committee

The PM’s Department said Najib also agreed to the setting up of a domestic enquiry committee to take action on suggestions and recommendations in the audit report.

Members of the committee comprise Yusof Ismail, from the Finance Ministry; Economic Planning Unit (EPU) director-general Nik Azman Nik Abdul Majid; Felda general manager Ab Ghani Mohd Ali; deputy secretary-general in the Prime Minister’s Department Zainal Abidin Abu Hassan, and Public Private Partnership Unit (UKAS) director-general Ahmad Husni Hussain.

According to the department, the audit which began on Jan 4 this year, encompasses all processes, beginning with the proposal on the KLVC development project, the project implementation, until the Felda land title transfer issue.

A total of 240 documents at the Felda and FICSB offices, as well as the Federal Territory Land and Mines Office and the Kuala Lumpur City Hall were involved in the audit, which also involved interviews with relevant officers at the affected agencies.

The PM’s Department has studied the audit report and agreed, as well as accepted the report, it said.

"Generally, the audit report has fulfilled the stipulated auditing objective and the government is satisfied with the report by the audit team,” said the department.

- Bernama