UMNO-BN failed - because the poor FELDA settlers who should by now become financially independent and able to live without anymore depending on government(or FELDA) assistance seem to be still 'poor' with large debts?
UMNO-BN gagal kerana penroka FELDA yang mula-mula miskin seharusnya kini sudah menjadi stabil dari segi kewangan and boleh hidup berdikari tanpa perlu bergantung kepada bantuan kerajaan(atau FELDA) nampaknya masih lagi 'miskin' dengan hutang besar?
Is the Opposition party just intending to simply take over from UMNO-BN, and keep the FELDA settlers poor and still dependent on government - or will there be change? Again the Opposition seems to be concerned about failings of FELDA/Government and the alleged injustices suffered...
Adakah parti Pembangkang hanya mahu mengambil alih tempatUMNO-Bn, dan terus menurus mengekalkan peneroka FELDA dalam keadaan kemiskinan yang masih bergantung kepada kerajaan - ATAU adakah akan berlaku perubahan? Kini, nampaknya Pembangkang menumpukan perhatian kepada kegagalan FELDA/Kerajaan dan dakwaan ketidakadilan yang telah berlaku...
BUT what will the NEW policy of the Opposition for FELDA - will new groups of poor be given land, skill and assistance to overcome poverty and become financially stable and independent? Will it be for all poor or will it still be primarily for the Malay poor? Or are their only concern about this already existing about 112,000 Felda setlers and winning the General Elections?
TETAPI apakah polisi BARU Pembangkang untuk FELDA - adakah mereka yang miskin akan sekali lagi diberikan tanah, skil dan bantuan untuk mengatasi kemiskinan dan menjadi stabil dari segi kewangan? Adakah program sedemikian jika dimulakan kembali untuk mereka yang miskin...atau masih untuk Melayu miskin? Atau adakah keprihatinan mereka hanya untuk 112,000 peneroka FELDA dan keluarga sedia ada ...hanya untu menang PRU?
ARE FELDA SETTLERS TO BE BLAMED FOR THE PREDICAMENT SOME OF THEM ARE IN NOW?
Haruskah Peneroka FELDA sendiri yang harus dipersalahkan untuk masalah yang sebahagian mereka kini alami?
Easy to blame FELDA and the UMNO-BN government for the indebtness that many FELDA Settler families are facing today. It maybe true that the UMNO-BN government may have had played a part in failing to make FELDA Settlers and their families independent, confident and self sufficient - but at the same time blame also lies in the FELDA Settlers and their families.. When people become free and independent of government, they are free to choose wisely. This is why in urban centres, often the UMNO-BN gets defeated during elections...but in rural areas, dependency, poverty and indebtness ensures the UMNO-BN victory in most cases.
Senang sekali kita menyalahkan FELDA dan kerajaan UMNO-BN untuk keberhutanga ramai keluarga peneroka FELDA hari ini. Ia mungkin benar kerajaan UMNO-BN telah memainkan peranan dalam kegagalan menjadikan peneroka FELDA dan keluarga yakin, berdikari dan boleh hidup tanpa bergantung kepada kerajaan. Apabila rakyat menjadi bebas dan kurang bergantuang kepada 'bantuan' kerajaan, mereka akan memikirkan sendiri dan akan arif memilih pemimpin dan kerajaan. Ini dapat dilihat di kawasan bandar, di mana kebanyakkan kali UMNO-BN akan tertewas dalam pilihanraya...tetapi dalam kawasan luar bandar, kemiskinan dan pergantungan kepada kerajaan semasa dan keberhutangan nampaknya akan memastikan kemenangan UMNO-BN(kerajaan semasa) dalam kebanyakkan kes.
There are 112,635 Felda settlers, not including their wives and children.
Yes, FELDA did come up with proposals that the settlers allow FELDA(or some FELDA company or some contractor) to do the clearing of old trees, the replanting...for a FEE(Price), and those who agreed would also be given monthly advances of RM1,500 for the entire duration. Now, all these 'Fee' and Advances had to be paid back. Sadly, the majority chose the easy way - hand over the work to FELDA(or its agents), and take the RM1,500 monthly allowances...
YA, dalam isu baru ini, FELDA memang ada memberikan pilihan (1) FELDA(atau syarikat FELDA atau kontraktor luar) akan mengambil alih kerja membersihkan pokok uang sudah tua dan kerja penanaman semula...untuk harga tertentu, dan mereka yang bersetuju juga akan diberikan 'advance' bulanan RM1,500 untuk jangkamasa(mungkin 3-4 tahun sehingga hasil mula keluar) lagi. Dan semua pendahuluan dan bayaran bulanan perlu dibayar balik. Sedih sekali, kebanyakkannya nampak memilih cara mudah - serah saja tanah/ladang kepada FELDA(atau ejen mereka) - dan ambil bayaran bulanan RM1,500-00
BUT a small percentage were smarter, they decided to do the clearing of the old trees and the replanting on their own, and not take this RM1,500 advance for living allowances. So they worked their land, and survived on their savings(or maybe even income from other work/sources) - That would have been how any non-FELDA small holder would have done when it comes to the time for clearing old trees and replanting.
Tetapi, sebilangan kecil lebih arif, mereka memilih kerja sendiri membersihkan pokok lama dan menjalankan kerja tanaman semula dan juga tidak mengambil elaun kehidupan RM1,500-00. Justeru, mereka kerja sendiri, dan telah terus hidup bergantung kepada simpanan mereka(dan/atau pendapatan dari kerja/perniagaan lan/sumber lain). Inilah cara mana-mana mereka yang bukan peneroka FELDA di Malaysia akan lakukan bila perlu bersihkan pohoh lama dan menanam semula pokok baru.
Other smallholders and small business people, mostly without government loans or assistance, are able to survive and even prosper. It is all a question of good financial planning and savings. It is a question of smart spending - buying and spending according to your means, always making sure there is sufficient monies put aside for a rainy day.
Kebanyakkan petani, pekebun kecil dan peniaga kecil, kebanyakkan tanpa apa-apa bantuan atau pinjaman kerajaan, dapat hidup dan juga tambah kaya. Ianya semua soal perancangan kewangan yang baik dan simpanan. Ianya adalah mengenai perbelanjaan pandai - beli dan belanja berasaskan hakikat sendiri, selalu memastikan cukup wang disimpan untuk hari-hari susah...
However, looking at the state of indebtedness of FELDA settlers and their families, this was not a lesson they learned - and they continued to depend too much on the government and FELDA. [See the experience of Bakar Hashim, who decided not to outsource the tree clearing and replanting, but did it himself - see below -No Felda, no problem, for Bakar).
Tetapi, jika melihat hakikat ramai peneroka FELDA yang berhutang, mereka nampaknya tak belajar cara perancangan kewangan dan keperluan simpan untuk masa tak ada hasil.(Mereka sudah berpuluh tahu berkecimpung dalam sektor perladangan). Mereka masih terlampau banyak bergantung kepada FELDA(kerajaan) - tengok contoh Bakar Hashim, yang telah memilih tidak 'outsource' kerja ladang sendiri tetapi kerja sendiri...
Instead, Bakar forked out RM15,000 to replant his four-hectare plot. That, he said, was much lower than the RM100,000 it would cost some of his friends who had signed on for the Felda replanting scheme.Bakar said he cleared his plantation by poisoning the old trees and bought oil palm seedlings, which he paid labourers to plant, and later, fertilise.After three years, Felda paid him RM17,000 from the replanting fund and RM5,000 for removing the old trees.
Dependence on the Government and FELDA may have been an UMNO-BN strategy to keep the support of the FELDA community for the incumbent government - now UMNO-BN.
Mengekalkan kebergantungan kepada Kerajaan dan/atau FELDA mungkin satu strategi UMNO-BN untuk mengekalkan sokongan lomuni FELDA kepada kerajaan sedia ada - kini UMNO-BN.
The government and/or FELDA cannot be said to have not given settlers choices - but may have encouraged outsourcing work on their individual small-holdings to FELDA and/or its contractors...and surely these companies/contractors that took up the jobs made profits.
Tidak boleh dikatakan peneroka tidak diberikan pilihan oleh FELDA(kerajaan) - di mana kerajaan/FELDA mungkin ada mendesak atau mengumpan dengan janji elaun bulanan untuk peneroka FELDA jangan kerja sendiri tetapi 'OUTSOURCE'(suruh pihak lain buat kerja) kepada FELDA(atau syarikat FELDA/kontraktor) ...sudah pasti syarikat yang ambil buat kerja ada mengaut untung...
FELDA settlers were many, and they should have come together as settlers, to work together on their respective hectares of land - that would have saved money. Did they 'over-trust' FELDA and/or the government - choosing rather to outsource work on their land, rather that work it themselves.
Ramai peneroka FELDA - mereka boleh datang bersama untuk kerja bersama membersihkan ladang dan tanam semula - dan wang akan dapat disimpan. Adakah mereka terlalu percaya FELDA/kerajaan - memilih 'OUTSOURCE' kerja dan bukan kerja sendiri di atas tanah mereka. Kalau cuci kereta sendiri, tak ada bayaran - tapi kalau minta 'car wash' kena bayar RM8-10??
Remember FELDA is a government agency, and it has its own plantations to run - different from the hectares given to the individual settlers and their families.
Ingat FELDA adalah ejensi kerajaan, yang juga mempunyai ladang sendiri - ini berbeda dengan program peneroka yang peneroka diberi tanah beberapa hektar untuk tanam, dan mengaut keuntugan usaha mereka.
The government's role is bring development to the area - and this they did by the building of roads, schools, clinics, etc...
Peranan kerajaan adalah untuk membawa pembangunan kepada sesuatu kawasan - jalanraya, sekolah, klinik, dll...
Felda Settlers were also NOT 'locked-up' or not able to move ini and out of their Felda Settlemnents. Likewise, everyone could go and visit these FELDA settlers. They could easily discuss and get advice from others, not being those associated to FELDA or the government. They had access to information, advice, etc ...so when the settler chose to outsource work and end up in debt, who would we blame?
Peneroka FELDA bebas keluar masuk kawasan FELDA, dan orang luar boleh masuk bertemu peneroka FELDA. Senang sekali mereka berbincang dan mendapat nasihat daripada orang lain, bukan hanya bergantung kepada nasihat orang FELDA atau kerajaan. Akses maklumat, nasihat, dll ada - justeru bila peneroka sendiri memilih 'Outsource' kerja dan kini dalam keadaan keberhutangan - siapa yang harus dipersalahkan?
Now, for the purpose of the upcoming General Elections, there is much interest on FELDA - why was it not there before? But then there were always people from political parties, NGOs and others who may have given advice - but many FELDA settlers may have chosen to just trust FELDA and/or the government only...Who to blame? Many of FELDA settlers children have degrees and are educated...why were they not giving their parents good advice?
Kini, kemungkinan PRU tak lama lagi, banya minat mengenai FELDA - kenapa tidak ada sebegitu banyak minat sebelum ini? Tetapi pada masa yang sama ada selalu mereka daripada NGO, parti politik dan yang lain yang mungkin telah memberikan nasihat - tetapi mungkin ramai peneroka FELDA hanya pilih percaya dan dengar nasihat FELDA dan/atau kerajaan...Justeru, salah siapa? Ramai peneroka FELDA juga mempunyai anak yang ada ijazah universiti dan berpelajaran tinggi -mengapa mereka tidak berikan ibu bapa mereka nasihat baik?
What then is the position of the Opposition parties on FELDA - are they simply promising to continue the UMNO-BN way and keep settlers dependent and loyal to their political parties...or will they encourage independence, self-confidence...so that these settler communities will finally be 'debt-free' and able to survive on their own without any FELDA or government aid? or even Opposition politician assistance? Will they encourage the working on your land, or will they still encourage outsourcing to others to do the work? Working your own land is certainly cheaper...even if you have to hire your own workers, compared to outsourcing the work to FELDA or some private company/contractor.
Apakah posisi atau pendirian parti Pembangkang berkenaan FELDA - adakah mereka hanya janji ikut cara UMNO-BN dan memastikan peneroka bergantung kepada mereka dan setia kepada parti politik mereka...atau adakah mereka akan mengalakkan kepercayaan pada diri sendiri, berdikari - dan boleh hidup tanpa perlu lagi bergantung kepada bantuan kerajaan atau FELDA? Atau bantuan ahli politik atau parti politik? Adakah mereka akan mengalakkan buat kerja sendiri atas tanah sendiri ...atau adalah mereka akan mengalakkan 'outsourcing' kerja kepada syarikat/kontraktor? Kerja tanah sendiri adalah lebih murah dan tidak akan menyebabkan hutang terlampau...jika pun kena ambil pekerja sendiri, berbanding dengan 'outsourcing kerja kepada FELDA atau syarikat/kontraktor swasta yang lain.
The cause of the indebtness maybe the fault of the FELDA Settler themselves...and, the way forward is not to forgive the debt or the new government paying of the debt(or cancelling the debt) - This will be a bad lesson, and continue to generate 'dependence'...
Akhirkata, sebab keberhutangan mungkin salah peneroka FELDA sendiri...dan jalan kehadapan adalah untuk tidak memaafkan keberhutangan ini atau 'janji' kerajaan akan melupuskan hutang - Ini akan memberikan ajaran salah..dan atau memastikan 'kebergantungan' terus kepada...
The FELDA settler program was a good program, where the poor were given land, skills and assistance to enable them to escape poverty...will the Opposition re-start the program, and help more poor people. Of course, the settler will have to work hard...and not be lazy and simply outsource work..and take loans. The FELDA settlers need to have greater interaction with other farmers and small-holders, who continue to survive and prosper without any government assistance.
Program peneroka FELDA rancangan yang baik bila yang miskin diberikan tanah, skil dan bantuan untuk memastikan mereka melepasi/menangani kemiskinan..adakah Pembangkang akan memulakan semula program peneroka dan membantu lebih ramai orang miskin di Malaysia? Yang pasti, peneroka kena kerja keras...dan jangan malas dan senang-senang 'outsource' kerja dan ambil pinjaman. Peneroka FELDA harus mempunyai lebih interaksi dengan petani dan pekebun kecil, yang boleh hidup dengan baik tanpa apa-apa bantuan kerajaan...
The FELDA Settler Debt -
RM1,500 per month for 3 years = RM54,000
RM1,500 per month for 4 years = RM72,000
Cost of clearing their old trees, replanting and continuous monitoring(weeding/fertilizing) for 3 to 4 years = ?
If the debt is only about RM100,000 - noting they were getting money every month doing nothing...is it reasonable?
HUTANG Peneroka FELDA
RM1,500 se bulan untuk 3 tahun = RM54,000
RM1,500 se bulan untuk 4 tahun = RM72,000
Kos pembersihan pokok lama, kerja tanam semula, kerja jaga tanah/ladang(potong rumput, racun, baja) untuk 3-4 tahun - adalah ini munasabah?
DEBTS - How much debt do you have? Housing, Car, etc -RM100,000, RM200,000?
HUTANG - berapa hutang anda? Pinjaman Rumah, Kereta - RM100,000, RM200,000 atau lebih?
Thus, the indebtness of the FELDA Settlers, who it seem elected to outsource the removal of old trees, the replanting and their land until it started producing, and receiving advances of RM1,500 per month for about 3 years...The indebtness may not be the real issue that deserves too much attention when it comes to FELDA - Maybe, it was the failure of the UMNO-BN to develop 'independence' - and its questionable strategy of handing 'goodies', encouraging settlers to outsource work rather than doing it themselves...It would be most shocking if the some Felda Settlers, whilst waiting for their trees to produce just sat and received the advances - and did not try to generate alternative income whilst they waited.
Justeru, hakikat keberhutangan peneroka FELDA yang nampaknya memilih 'outsource' kerja kepada FELDA atau kontraktor lain, sambil menerima 'advance' perlu bayar balik sebanyak RM1,500(yang nyata lebih daripada gaji minima) untuk lebih kurang 3 tahun bukan isu utama di FELDA. Isu utama adalah kegagalan policy dan cara UMNO-BN untuk menjana sifat berdikari - strategi memberikan 'kelebihan', memujuk peneroka untuk jangan buat kerja sendiri tetapi outsource kepada FELDA...Adalah menghairankan jika peneroka ini tak kerja dan/atau mendapat pendapatan lain dalam masa 3 tahun mereka duduk menunggu menerima RM1,500 sebulan...
FELDA settlers is just one group -m
Peneroka FELDA satu kumpulan - bagaimana pula dengan pekerja di Ladang Milik Felda - adakah mereka ditindas...adakah mereka menerima sekurang-kurang RM1,500 sebulan...atau mereka terima gaji minima sahaja?
No Felda, no problem, for Bakar
LOOKING back, Bakar Hashim is glad he did not go with the flow and take up Felda’s replanting scheme.
At a time when most of his friends in Felda Chini Timur Satu chose to
surrender the management of their smallholdings to Felda in return for
replanting, Bakar stood firm as he felt something was not quite right
about the agreement.
He thought the terms were fuzzy and could bind his children and grandchildren to debt.
Instead, Bakar forked out RM15,000 to replant his four-hectare plot.
That, he said, was much lower than the RM100,000 it would cost some of
his friends who had signed on for the Felda replanting scheme.
Bakar said he cleared his plantation by poisoning the old trees and
bought oil palm seedlings, which he paid labourers to plant, and later,
fertilise.
After three years, Felda paid him RM17,000 from the replanting fund and RM5,000 for removing the old trees.
“As such, I didn’t lose RM15,000 by replanting but instead made a
profit of RM7,000, and did not have to surrender my land to Felda to
take part in its programme,” Bakar told The Malaysian Insight in Chini.
Felda Chini Timur 1 is one of the Felda settlements in the Pekan constituency, which MP is Prime Minister Najib Razak.
The 62-year-old settler said he turned down Felda’s offer to replant his plantation after speaking with his children.
Bakar said it was really a bit of luck that his son, Mohamad
Hisommudin Bakar had attended the briefings about the replanting scheme.
Hisommudin, who was a university student activist, said what he heard
did not make sense. Felda had told the settlers that they would surely
fail if they tried to replant themselves and would only succeed if they
went with Felda.
At the time, Hisommudin said, almost all of the 400 settlers in
attendance had agreed with him, so much so that the Felda officers
decided it was no use going on and called the meeting to an end.
After Hisommudin had returned to campus, however, Felda officers
returned to persuade the settlers to sign up for the replanting scheme.
“In the end, only my father and 10 more settlers decided not to sign
the replanting agreement and to work their own lands,” Hisommudin told
The Malaysian Insight.
But people like his family were the minority and Hisommudin said only
5% of the settlers decided to do the work themselves. The rest took up
Felda’s offer.
Not following the herd
Hisommudin’s mother, Hawariah Mohamad, said it was hard work doing the replanting themselves.
“Our house was filled with oil palm seedling. Even the neighbours
would make fun of us. They used to ask us what the seedling were and I
said they were snake fruit,” said Hawariah.
The snake fruit seedling resembles the oil palm seedling.
Hawariah also remembers the pressure on the family for not going with the herd.
“It was like Israel pressuring the Palestinians,” said the retired religious teacher.
Hisommudin said his father was tempted to give up many times
“My father wanted to give up and let Felda take over. But we
discussed it as a family, we asked him to hang on,” said the Ilham
Centre executive director.
Reaping what he sowed
But all that hard work has paid off. The family now hold their
heads high in the village where they were once shunned for daring to
rebel.
Bakar earns RM5,000-RM5,500 each month from the oil palms and he is debt free, to boot.
His fellow settlers who took up the replanting scheme, meanwhile,
draw RM2,000 to RM3,000 a month.
And, they owe Felda for replanting
their land and for the living allowance the agency paid them. The debts
run into the tens of thousands of ringgit.
Some have been receiving the monthly living allowance for 12 years.
The living allowance is a loan or advance for the settlers that is
supposed to tide them over until the new trees bear fruit, about three
years after replanting.
These days, Bakar’s role is that of the plantation owner. He no
longer does the heavy work and his youngest son supervises the workers,
who are mainly from Indonesia and Bangladesh.
Bakar has a small lorry to transport the oil palm bunches and has started rearing cows. He has 50 heads of cattle.
“With the cows and everything, my father earns around RM10,000 a month,” said Hisommudin. – November 21, 2017, Malaysian Insight.
Indebted to Felda for life
AFTER signing a deal to allow Felda to replant his plantation in
2004, Ahmad Hashim left Felda Chini 4 in Pahang in search of job
opportunities.
The 61-year-old returned to claim his land after three years, when they trees had reached maturity and began fruiting.
However, his application to take back the land was rejected as Felda
claimed he still owed the government agency money, Ahmad told The
Malaysian Insight.
“They estimated that the land would break even in five years. So I
was told to wait first,” said Ahmad in Felda Chini in Pekan, the
constituency of Prime Minsiter Najib Razak, whose home state is Pahang.
In 2012, Ahmad again met Felda management to get his land back, but
was again turned away as the agency said he still owed money.
It was then that Ahmad began wondering how much he owed Felda for
replanting and the RM1,500 allowance he was paid monthly, and whether
his plantation would ever yield enough to pay off the debt.
Former plantation manager Shariman Alang Ahmad said oil palms usually
started producing in the fourth year, yielding six to nine tonnes of
oil per hectare that year.
“The yield will then increase by three tonnes each year until the
trees enter their eighth and ninth year. By then they should produce
around 20 tonnes per hectare a year. The yields begin declining when the
trees turn 20 years old,” said Shariman.
The current price of oil palm is RM5,500 to RM6,500 per tonne.
“We don’t know how much we owe Felda”
Ahmad said he had asked Felda for a financial report or balance sheet
of his holdings. But the settler said he was pushed from place to
place.
“I want to know how much I still owed them and the yields of my land.
Is that too much to ask?,” he said, expressing his disappointment over
the Felda management in his area.
Another settler, Akhir Ahmad has run up a RM98,000 debt to Felda, six years after signing the replanting agreement.
“I am really shocked at the amount I still owed them. After six
years, my debt is RM98,000. I’m so angry because Felda didn’t tell us it
was going to be like this when we signed the agreement,” he said.
He said the debt was the accumulation of replanting costs and monthly living allowance Felda paid the settlers.
“The problem is, they don't tell us the income generated from the land, after it starts producing yields,” he said.
Tired of being left in the dark, he and other settlers gathered to
meet Felda to talk about the replanting agreement and its impact to the
settlers.
“We managed to get about 400 settlers together in 2010 and we discussed the issue with Felda officers,” said Akhir.
“I said what Felda was doing went against the vision of its founder,
the late Tun Razak,” he said, adding that the settlers began efforts to
reclaim their lands after the meeting.
“In Felda Chini 4, which houses more than 400 settlers, there are
about 100 settlers who are still allowing Felda to manage their lands.
“The rest have begun managing their own estates."
As a settler managing his own holdings, Ahmad said he earned RM4,500 to RM5,500 monthly.
Perpetual debt
Felda Chini opened in 1978 and after 20 years, the yields declined
and the trees had to be replanted. The settlers were given the option of
Felda’s replanting scheme in 2004.
Most of the settlers had taken up the deal, which let Felda fully
manage their holdings from replanting oil palm trees to pruning and
harvesting the fruits.
During the replanting period, settlers received a monthly RM1,500
living allowance that was to be repaid once their estates begin turning
in a profit.
Ahmad said starting June, Felda no longer paid the settlers
the RM1,500 living allowance. Instead, the sum the settler is paid is
determined by the yield of his holdings.
Second generation Felda settler, Mohd Firdaus Salleh, 31, said his
father, who took part in Felda's scheme, now earned RM2,000 to RM3,000 a
month.
But Felda was deducting RM400 each month as repayment for the
RM130,000 owed to the agency according to the replanting agreement.
“How long will it take for us to repay the debt? Even after we
inherit the land and after another round of replanting, we will still be
in debt,” he said. – November 21, 2017, Malaysian Insight
The controversial contract that can cost BN the Felda vote
ABOUT 15 years ago, tens of thousands of settlers signed a
replanting agreement with Felda that activists claim has led to one of
their biggest problems today – crushing debt.
That agreement is now being studied by the settlers’ children,
activists, lawyers, and politicians who want to either challenge it in
court or use it as fodder for their general election campaigns.
Some of the settlers and their lawyers allege that the agreement is lopsided.
Others are working with politicians in Pakatan Harapan to turn it
into a defining issue that could sway the Felda vote which impacts 56
parliamentary seats in the peninsula – most of which are held by Barisan
Nasional.
There are 112,635 Felda settlers, not including their wives and children.
“We are forming a committee to study this issue at the party level
before bringing it to the Pakatan Harapan presidential council,” said
Amanah communications chief Khalid Samad.
Amanah, together with Bersatu, PKR, and DAP, form the PH alliance.
“We hope to go on a roadshow in Felda areas to explain the issue just
like we did with the 1MDB (1Malaysia Development Bhd) financial
scandal, and offer solutions,” Khalid told The Malaysian Insight.
One of the lawyers studying the agreement, Dr Zulqarnain Luqman said
95% of the settlers signed the contract with Felda so that the agency
could replant the holdings.
Hisomuddin Bakar, the son of a settler in Felda Cini, Pahang, said
each Felda settler owned a four-hectare oil palm or rubber plantation,
and by the beginning of the millennium, many of those trees were too old
to bear fruit or latex.
He said Felda crafted an agreement wherein settlers would relinquish
management of their estates to the agency so that it could replant the
land with new trees.
It took about three years to replant and for the trees to mature,
during which the holdings did not produce yields. During this period,
each settler was paid a living allowance of RM1,500 per month.
Former plantation manager Shariman Alang Ahmad said oil palms took about three years to reach maturity and produce fruit.
“The optimal fruit bearing age is between eight and nine years, and
the yield usually goes down once the tree is over 20 years old,” said
Shariman, who worked for a government-linked company.
"At the end of the three years, when the trees started to bear fruit,
Felda continued to manage the settlers’ holdings including maintaining
the trees and harvesting the fruit.
"Felda did not return their holdings to the settlers because it
claimed the settlers needed to repay the cost of replanting which ran
into hundreds of thousands of ringgit," Hisomuddin said.
Settlers were also told they needed to repay the living allowance they were paid during the three years.
Meanwhile, Felda continued to pay them RM1,500 per month while holding on to the holdings.
Settlers have claimed that their debts came up to over RM100,000 and that the agency could be collecting more than what it was owed.
“The question is, when are the settlers going to be done with the
debt? Will it be passed on to their children and grandchildren?” said
Hisomuddin.
One of the clauses of the agreement stipulates that the settlers may
not, for any reason or under any circumstances, terminate the agreement
until all debts and payments that are owed , including income advances,
have been paid in full to Felda.
Zulqarnain, the lawyer, said the government needed to review the agreement.
“It is too much tilted in favour of Felda and burdens the settlers."
Another lawyer said the settlers were bound by their debt while the
amount they owed was determined by the agreement which specified that
the settlers’ estates be handed over to Felda until the debt is fully
repaid while the settlers are bound to pay the cost of management and
replanting.
The debt, said the lawyer who did not want to be named, could also be
passed on to the settlers’ descendants. – November 15, 2017, Malaysian Insight.
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