Special report on efforts to consolidate Felda's finances by early Sept

The special task force set up to address Felda issues will be tabling a full report on the agency, which includes efforts to consolidate its financial position, by early next month.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economy) Mustapa Mohamed said the report is a follow-up of the white paper “Towards A Sustainable Federal Land Development Authority (Felda)”, which was tabled in Parliament last April.

“The special task force chaired by Abdul Wahid Omar was set up by the government. It has almost completed its report and we are expecting it to be officially delivered to the government in a week or two.

“It is expected to be tabled this month or the latest early next month and we hope in October, the government would be able to announce several actions to ensure the sustainability of Felda,” Mustapa said.

He was speaking to reporters after a meeting with the leadership of North and South Trolak Felda in Slim River today.

The announcement on the establishment of the task force on Felda issues was made by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin when launching the 2020 national-level Felda Settlers’ Day celebration last month.

The task force was to identify the best approach to ensure the financial sustainability of Felda for the benefit of the settlers.

Commenting further, Mustapa, who is also Jeli MP, said apart from finding ways to consolidate Felda’s financial position, the report would also contain a model to reduce the debt burden of settlers and efforts to raise output.

“The current production of between 19 and 20 tonnes per 0.4 hectares (1 acre) per year would be raised to the target of 25 tonnes per year. The target is achievable,” he said.

On the Trolak Region Herbal Valley as announced by Muhyiddin, Mustapa said one of the ways to improve income is by continuous monitoring to ensure success.

Meanwhile, when asked on the Slim by-election, Mustapa was confident that Felda settlers numbering more than 13,000 from 23, 094 voters in the constituency would give their support to BN candidate Mohd Zaidi Aziz following the government’s efforts to improve the social and economic standards of the Felda community.

The Slim by-election is a three-cornered fight between BN’s Mohd Zaidi Aziz, 43, and two independent candidates, namely S Santhasekaran, 44, and Amir Khusyairi Mohamad Tanusi, 38, who represents Dr Mahathir Mohamad's Parti Pejuang Tanahair which just submitted its official registration application yesterday.

- Bernama