Felda settlers: An ‘uprising’ in the horizon

By FMT Staff

HULU SELANGOR: Fuelled by Pakatan Rakyat’s willingness to offer legal aid to Felda settlers in Selangor who want to sue the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) for millions of unpaid amount, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak may soon have an “uprising” on his hands.
The Selangor settlers have joined the growing number of settlers who are taking the agency to court following successive wins by other settlers.

Felda settlers from Johor, Negeri Sembilan and Pahang have also brought their suits to High Courts in their respective states. The settlers from other states are expected to file similar suits soon.

All of them have charged Felda of marginalising the settlers over the refusal to abide by market rates and Rate of Yield Grade (RYG) which have brought about losses to the tune of RM150 to RM250 each month for each grade for these settlers.

At an average salary of RM1,500 a month, these losses pose a heavy burden to the Felda settler's livelihoods.

Chairman of the PKR Felda bureau Suhaimai Said has urged Felda to own up to its discriminatory practices and ready themselves to face the uprising of settlers demanding their rights.

“I would like to remind Umno-Barisan Nasional which has used Felda as their lifeline to prepare themselves for the uprising among the settlers.

“The settlers are now aware of Felda’s cheating ways and how they have marginalised the settlers by depriving them of what is rightfully theirs.

“Do not continue to assume that these settlers are stupid, “ he said.
Dipping into Felda's kitty
He explained that the RYG which was determined by Felda is in the range of 17 to 19 percent only, but after an evaluation was done by settlers from Serting, Negeri Sembilan, at the Tun Razak Agriculture Research Centre (PPPTK), it was found that the RYG could reach up to 26 percent.

“Felda has cheated the settlers through the RYG. We see Felda sucking the settler's money discreetly. Each percent has a value of its own, usually in the range of RM20 to RM40.

“So the difference between 26 percent and 19 percent is six percent. If each percent is RM40, therefore the government deprives the settlers of RM240 per ton.

“This is the handy work of Umno which uses Felda for its own advantage. Whenever the government does not have money, they dip into the Felda kitty.

He said after witnessing the success of the Felda Kemahang settlers in suing Felda, settlers in three states such as Johor, Negeri Sembilan and Pahang will also begin their lawsuit soon.

On Feb 19, the Federal Court ordered Felda to pay RM11 million to the 354 settlers.

The victory for the 354 settlers from Felda Kemahang 3, Tanah Merah in Kelantan, in their suit against Felda Palm Industries Sdn Bhd was a big win and a starting point for the whole community of Felda settlers to fight for their rights.