The Malaysian Insight

THE Felda community in Cameron Highlands must not to fall for Barisan Nasional’s propaganda, Majlis Permuafakatan NGO Felda chairman Mazlan Aliman said as BN ramps up effort to win the settlers’ vote.

He told Felda settlers in Sg Koyan that the accusations by BN that the Pakatan Harapan administration is not doing anything to help them are not true.

“The government is helping the settlers and Economic Affairs Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali will be making further announcements on the matter.

“Before this, he had already explained the situation affecting Felda while Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng has announced allocations for Felda,” he said today at the Kepala Batas Mara Junior Science College (MRSM) in Penang, where he launched the school’s “kelulut” honey harvest project.

Last month, Putrajaya announced a RM77 million special allocation for Felda, of which RM32.8 million is living aid for settlers, some 2,800 of which are in Felda Sg Koyan 1, 2 and 3 in Cameron Highlands.

Azmin had said last month that when PH took over Putrajaya, Felda – a federal body – was debt-ridden and its coffers were “virtually empty”.

The Cameron Highlands by-election campaign is at its tail-end, with voters going to the polls on Saturday. BN’s Ramli Mohd Nor, Pakatan Harapan’s M. Manogaran and independent candidates Wong Seng Yee and Sallehudin Ab Talib are contesting for parliamentary seat which is a BN stronghold.
 
BN has held the Pahang seat since it was created in 2003.

Issues such as a fall in the prices for palm oil and rubber, and the rising cost of living had hurt Felda settlers, causing unhappiness towards the ruling government, which had previously pledged in its 2018 general election manifesto to abolish settlers’ debts but have yet to fulfil.

Mazlan, a well-known Felda activist since his days as Persatuan Anak Peneroka Felda Kebangsaan (Anak) president, is tasked to help the government come up with ideas to introduce alternative economic activities for Felda settlers.

He said plans are in the works to help Felda settlers generate alternative income. 

If all goes well, in a few months Felda settlers in Sungai Tengi in Hulu Selangor will be able to grow fruits like pineapples, watermelons and bananas to supplement their earnings. 

Mazlan, who is also chairman of the Farmers Organisation Authority’s (FAO) board, said settlers at Felda Sungai Tengi do not have an income now that they have as chopped down their oil palm trees for replanting.

Oil palms take at least three years to grow, while the fruit crops could be harvested in less than a year, he said.

“The allowances given to settlers are not enough for them to live on. So they need alternative crops that can generate income.

“In the long run, we are looking at introducing the settlers to livestock breeding. They can rear goats and cattle.”

The plans were laid out in a FAO board meeting three days ago, Mazlan said, adding that the idea was to run the project on 0.8ha of land in Felda Sungai Tengi in March or April.

 Mazlan said Putrajaya cared about Felda settlers and the issues that were affecting them, such as settlers’ children who face low income woes.

He said the government would continue to introduce projects, offer grants, easy loans and other incentives that could help settlers and their families.

“Claims that the government has washed its hands of (lepas tangan) Felda are not true.” – January 24, 2019.