BN government cares about all Felda settlers' families, not just first generation - Ismail Sabri

SUNGAI SIPUT: The Barisan Nasional (BN) government cares about all Felda settlers' families, not just the first generation, caretaker Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said.

He said this was proven through the granting of land lots for the construction of houses for the second generation of Felda settlers.

"So far, a total of 8,670 land lots have been identified and the effort will be expanded nationwide, even in Bera.

"The land lots are not for sale but are granted. Felda just has to pay a land premium to the state government which, I was made to understand, is quite low," he told reporters after attending the meet-and-greet with Felda Lasah residents here today.

Also present were Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad and MIC president Tan Sri S. A. Vigneswaran.

Apart from that, Ismail Sabri said the government had also allocated RM20 million for the Housing Credit Guarantee Scheme (SJKP) to facilitate the construction of the lot houses and a special fund of RM10 million for the Felda Youth Entrepreneurs Fund.

"Those allocations did not include other funds set up by the government for the entrepreneurs. There's a total of RM305 million in funds made available for youth entrepreneurs by Agro Bank, SME Bank, Perbadanan Usahawan Nasional Bhd (PUNB), Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) and the likes," he said.

Earlier in his speech, Ismail Sabri, who is incumbent MP for Bera, said Felda has agreed to write off RM1.8 million in loans to 70 settlers in Felda Lasah whose farms were damaged by an elephant attack.

"It's part of the incentive from the government for Felda Lasah but the management needs to think about how to deal with the elephant attack so that it won't recur," he added.

-- BERNAMA