FELDA lost in Federal Court

Felda settlers get RM11m in damages

By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal

August 26, 2010

PUTRAJAYA, Aug 26 — More than 300 settlers will receive RM11 million in damages after the Federal Court here rejected the Federal Land Development Authority’s bid to overturn a lower court decision which found that Felda had manipulated the grading of palm oil from their plantations.
Today’s victory could pave the way for more suits and underscores the rising discontent in Felda settlements — and may cost the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) crucial support from the mostly-Malay settlers.
Pakatan Rakyat (PR) parties like PAS have taken advantage of the unhappiness in Felda settlements and have been campaigning in recent months to rally settlers, traditionally BN voters, to the side of the federal opposition.
The Federal Court refused a review of Felda’s application today to challenge a decision by another panel in dismissing its appeal, citing that it had no jurisdiction to entertain the application.
Felda had filed an application to review a Federal Court decision on January 19 which denied the land authority leave to appeal against a decision by the Kota Baru High Court.
The High Court had previously ordered Felda to pay RM7.8 million in damages and interest to the settlers on January 13, 2008, after its counsel failed to turn up for the hearing of the suit filed by the settlers.
The decision was subsequently upheld by the Court of Appeal.
The amount has since ballooned to RM11 million with accumulated interest, with each settler now expected to be paid between RM20,000 and RM30,000 in damages.
Today’s ruling was decided by a three-man panel chaired by Court of Appeal Justice Alauddin Mohd Sherif with Federal Court judges Justice Hashim Yusoff and Justice Md Raus Sharif.
In an unanimous decision, Alauddin said the court did not have jurisdiction to review the earlier decision of the Federal Court.
“Hence, this review is dismissed,” said Alauddin.
This is the first suit filed by the settlers against Felda.
The ruling today is set to have adverse repercussions for the land authority as well confidence of Felda settlers nationwide towards the Najib administration.
This was highlighted by Felda counsel Firoz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin, who referred to a string of suits faced by the federal authority from its settlers. There are currently other similar suits filed in the Johor Baru High Court and Seremban High Court.
The settlers sued Felda in 2002 seeking between RM20,000 and RM30,000 each in general damages, claiming that the agency had understated the quality of their oil palm fruits during the period from 1996 to 2002 which caused them to suffer losses.
They named Felda, Felda Kemahang 3 manager Ibrahim Ismail (now deceased) and Felda Palm Industries Sdn Bhd as defendants.
In their writ, the settlers claimed that they discovered fraud and conspiracy in the transactions of the oil palm fruits in September 2001.
More than 150 settlers packed the Palace of Justice here today.
The settlers were represented by a team of lawyers led by Wan Rohimi Wan Daud.
MI