PM Haji Najib announces bonuses for Felda settlers

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak today announced that Felda will reward settlers of its land schemes with productivity incentive bonuses amounting to a minimum of RM400 and maximum of RM1,200, which is the same as last year.

The bonus payment, which depends on the produce delivered, involved 95,949 out of 112,635 Felda settlers amounting to about RM102.584 million.

It is a move to appreciate the contributions of settlers in developing the oil palm and rubber industries, as well as an incentive to send their produce through Felda, he said.

Announcing it in a statement, Najib said the 2011 productivity incentive bonus will be paid out at respective land scheme offices by month-end.

"The government hopes that the bonus will motivate settlers to work harder to increase their productivity," he said.

He said settlers who send their produce through the scheme's management will be evaluated based on their produce sent from January to October.

For oil palm settlers, a minimum eligibility of 8.01 tonnes/hectare is imposed while maximum reward would be given to those who send in produce of over 19.00 tonnes/hectare.

The minimum eligibility for rubber settlers is 600.01 kg/hectare with a maximum reward to those who send in more than 1,400 kg/hectare.

16,686 settlers not eligible

There are 32,865 settlers involved in sending oil palm and rubber produce, of whom 27,069 were for oil palm and 5,796 rubber.

Najib said 60,584 settlers involved in Felda's replanting scheme will receive a maximum bonus of RM1,200 which was the same in 2010.

He said Felda also gave special consideration to settlers with low productivity and those who are waiting their turn for replanting by taking over their farmland for development purposes.

Settlers in this category are those whose produce was low due to attacks from the ganoderma fungus or bagworms.

About 2,500 settlers are involved with a payment of RM400 each, he said.

Najib said 16,686 settlers were found not eligible for the incentive as they did not send their produce to Felda and its amount was less than the minimum fixed.

Settlers who manage their farms on their own and did not send in produce will also not receive incentive bonuses, he said.

"I call on all settlers to join in Felda's programmes in line with continuous efforts by the agency to increase the income of settlers through guidance and counseling," he added.

- Bernama