Shortchanged in the millions, 351 sue Felda

Federal Land Development Agency (Felda) settlers from four settlements in Pahang filed a civil suit against the agency and Felda Palm Industries Sdn Bhd yesterday for allegedly "cheating" them of at least RM11.3 million.

The 351 plaintiffs from Felda Mempaga 1, Mempaga 2, Mempaga 3 and Bukit Damar believe that the amount is much higher as RM11.3 million only corresponds to the estimated shortfall of payment for 2008 alone.

The suit, filed at the Temerloh High Court, backdates claims to 1995 when the settlers' entered into a contract to exclusively sell their yield to Felda Palm Industries.

They are also seeking compensation for breach of trust, with interest.

Citing tests on oil fruit bunches from Felda Jengka, the settlers said the defendants "cheated" them by claiming that the average oil extraction rate (OER) for their fruit was only 18.5 percent.

They argued that random tests by Felda Agricultural Services Sdn Bhd found that Felda Jengka's fruit had an average OER of 27.31 percent.

"With a devaluation of 8.5 percent in OER per fruit at 120 tonnes per year, the loss can be quantified at RM257.60 per tonne for 2008...

"(This) means that each settler was cheated of RM30,912 in 2008," read their statement of claim.

Fruit bunches not disposed of, but sold

Besides OER, the settlers claimed that the defendants had also informed them that some fruits could not be processed due to poor quality, and as such a percentage was discounted from the OER as a penalty.

However, they said the fruits which were held back were not disposed of and were instead processed by Felda.

"Based on the average oil palm price for 2008, each settler loss... RM1,345.63," said the lawsuit.

According to the settler, they were forced to cite the Felda Jengka OER results as the plaintiffs had refused testing on their fruit bunches.

"The plaintiffs had tried to send fruit bunch samples for analysis at local laboratories, but the laboratories had rejected them without reasonable cause. A police report has been lodged on this matter," the statement reads.

"The plaintiffs will prove their production rates and determine the actual losses sustained when the information is forthcoming in the discovery process of the trial."

The settlers are represented by lawyers T Kumar and Latheefa Koya, who are also PKR leaders.

Felda has been facing a string of civil suits by settlers involving similar allegations, including a RM422 million suit filed last April in Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's constituency of Pekan.