Felda needs to strengthen management, settlers should work together - Mustapa

KUALA LUMPUR: The Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA) needs to strengthen its management and settlers need to work together with the agency to ensure a sustainable future, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Economy) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.

He said by improving the management, FELDA is expected to achieve its palm oil extraction rate target of up to 25 per cent within two or three years.

Mustapa stressed that the government wants the settlers to work together with FELDA and the management also needs to be improved, as this is one of the terms and conditions that will be monitored by the government.

"I know most of the settlers are grateful (for the partial waiver of their legacy loans, as announced by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin on July 7, 2021) and we want the settlers together with the FELDA management to accept the terms and conditions imposed.

"The government wants to see FELDA be more sustainable when the debt is lower," he said in the Agenda AWANI programme entitled 'Felda Regeneration Initiative' last night.

Mustapa added that settlers need to be consistent in submitting their proceeds and be disciplined in repaying loans, and farm management should be left to FELDA.

"Before this, the farms were managed by various parties so FELDA believes that it is more capable of managing the farms because there have been various practices and there is a lack of discipline.

"This debt reduction is conditional, which gives rise to the concept of working together with FELDA, however, this is part of the conditions which the management will clarify with the settlers," he said.

The government had agreed to offset part of the settlers' loans amounting to RM8.3 billion through a conditional loan adjustment initiative, with the aim to help settlers and their descendants return to the original purpose of FELDA's establishment.

Muhyiddin said the conditional disposal included, among others, the partial adjustment of the replanting loan balance as of Dec 31, 2019, amounting to RM8 billion, which would benefit 92,441 settlers or 82 per cent out of a total 112,638 settlers.

-- BERNAMA