Umno Youth to form committee to be 'voice' of Felda settlers, smallholders

Umno Youth will establish a special committee to fight for the rights of Felda settlers and smallholders in the country, said its chief Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki.

The committee, called Pembela, will prepare a memorandum proposing policies to overcome the issues faced by the relevant parties, to be handed to the government for consideration, he said.

"God willing, on the 11th of this month we will have a round table discussion or a special forum, at the grassroots level to plan the committee's programmes," he told reporters after chairing the Umno Youth meeting in PWTC, today.

Pembela will be led by Paya Besar MP and Umno Youth information chief Mohd Shahar Abdullah, while the research for the memorandum will be carried out by the wing's executive committee member Shahril Hamdan.

According to Asyraf, Pembela will use social media as the main medium to voice out the grouses faced by settlers and smallholders, who he claims, are increasingly subjected to hardships.

"Almost everyone we come across, complain that on average, they only earn between RM200 and RM250 only.

"In Felda Palong yesterday, some had their electricity and water bills cut because they could not pay their bills.

"(The government) has to pay heed to their predicament because this involves about 112,653 settlers' families and 650,000 smallholders' families," he said, adding that the "findings" were made after Umno Youth visited several Felda settlements recently.

'Anak is nowhere'

When asked if the establishment of Pembela marks the failure of the National Felda Settlers' Children Association (Anak) in championing the cause of settlers, Asyraf cynically replied that the latter is "nowhere to be seen."

"If Anak is still in function, we will support it but the problem is, no NGO is fighting for the settlers and smallholders' rights.

"So Umno Youth has to take the initiative, but we will not resort to slander or incitement. That's not our job, especially when they (settlers and smallholders) are already Umno/BN supporters," he said.

"This is not the issue of who supports who. As the government, Pakatan Harapan has to be responsible for all, even if Felda settlements are BN strongholds."

On the Felda White Paper unveiled by Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali on Apr 10, Asyraf said there was nothing new in it.

"What Harapan did not sincerely say is what was in the White Paper is not new, it was started by the BN government.

"The issue of weak management, the prosecution of certain individuals for wrongdoing, all these were started during the time of (former Felda chairperson) Shahrir Samad, before Harapan came to power.

"We are still waiting for the 'wow factor' which can guarantee the future of Felda settlers and smallholders."

Azmin, in unveiling the White Paper in Parliament, announced the allocation of RM6.23 billion in aid to rehabilitate Felda.

The aid will be given in stages, in the form of grants, loans, and government guarantees. - Mkini