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Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Settlers tick off Felda: Stop the lies and pay up!


KUALA LUMPUR (Harakahdaily) - National Felda Settlers' Children's Association (ANAK) hit out at a deputy minister for belittling Felda settlers by alleging that funds for replanting had been abused by the settlers.

ANAK chairman Mazlan Aliman said several statements made by the deputy minister in the Prime Minister's Department Ahmad Maslan were lies and inappropriate.

“I urge him to immediately retract his statements which have hurt the feelings of 14,000 settlers who manage their own plantations,” said Mazlan at the Parliament lobby accompanied by a few Felda settlers who had been cultivating their plantation for over 30 years. Also present at the press conference were PAS members of parliament Dr Hatta Ramli and Salahuddin Ayub.

Ahmad recently said the replantation effort by the settlers was a failure as their farms had been infested by rodents and other animals.

He also claimed that some of the settlers had used the RM17,000 provided under the replantation programme to purchase motorcycles, cars or renovate their houses.

Mazlan questioned whether Felda had given the settlers a free hand to manage their own farms, saying a circular had been sent by the authorities to stop the settlers from doing so.

“Why has Felda come out with a circular threatening settlers to plug those young palm oil plants which have been planted by the settlers’ own effort,” he asked, adding that some settlers who did replantation on their own had yet to receive the replantation fund from Felda.

He urged Ahmad to stop denying facts and said replantation debt owed to the settlers must be settled within three months.

"3,000 settlers in Pahang currently are still waiting for their replantation money. If [Felda] fails to do so, ANAK will organise a mass trip to Felda headquarters in Jalan Semarak on a weekly basis,” he said, adding that the first batch would comprise of settlers from Gugusan Sungai Dusun Ulu Selangor who had been promised payment owed to them during the Hulu Selangor by-election.

“The settlers will not hesitate to bring the matter to court. They choose the court because it is the end of the road as the negotiation which has lasted for such a long time has been futile,” he explained.

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