KUALA LUMPUR, July 1 — The government’s admission that Felda’s RM4 billion cash reserve has dwindled significantly has renewed Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) hope to win over the voters in settlements run by the Federal Land Development Authority.
PKR
Felda bureau chairman Suhaimi Said told The Malaysian Insider the party has been busy organising meetings with settlers and forming party branches, turning Felda settlements into a battlefront for the next general election.
“Felda settlers are slowly preparing for an uprising. They are rural Malays, they may not be able to talk like Hindraf supporters or protest like them, but look at our conventions, seminars for Felda settlers, the response has been encouraging,” said Suhaimi, referring to the Hindu Rights Action Force which was behind the country’s largest Indian protest in 2007.
“In the 1980s we used to get, at most, 50 people at Felda gatherings. Now it’s not unusual to get thousands of people,” said Suhaimi.
The Hindraf protest saw some 30,000 Indians marching in the streets of Kuala Lumpur to protest against alleged discrimination.
The protest is said to have led to Barisan Nasional (BN) losing its customary two-thirds majority in Parliament.
Felda currently administers about 480 settlements nationwide with 112,635 settlers.
The largely Malay settlers backed BN in the last general election, resulting in PR’s defeat in rural, Malay-majority constituencies where most Felda settlements are located.
PR has intensified its efforts to win the Felda votes since Election 2008 with various rallies and recruitment drive.
“They admitted the decline in cash reserve. How they spent money for unnecessary projects, for their new headquarters,” said Suhaimi, referring to Datuk Ahmad Maslan’s recent remarks on Felda’s cash reserve.
The deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department had admitted Felda’s cash reserves plunged from RM4.08 billion in 2004 to RM1.35 billion in 2009.
He clarified that RM2 billion was spent for replanting crops, RM603 million for interest-free housing loans, RM253 million for Sabah poverty eradication efforts and RM662 million was used for the controversial new Felda headquarters.
“So we wonder what will happen in five years’ time. We ask the settlers what is Felda’s future if this is how they are managing the money,” said Suhaimi.
PKR and its publication Suara Keadilan are facing legal action over its report alleging that Felda was on the verge of bankruptcy.
“We do not want Felda to be bankrupt, we want Felda to prosper for settlers,” said Suhaimi, who has been campaigning actively especially in Pahang Felda settlements.
“If Felda continues to spend money like this for political projects and mistreat settlers, it won’t be long before settlers turn to Pakatan Rakyat,” said the lawyer, who has been working on Felda settlers’ rights since the 1980s.
Apart from the abuse of cash reserve, Suhaimi claimed that the land authority has deviated from its original objective to help landless Malays but is now treating settlers as a source of cheap labour.
Suhaimi, who was arrested under the ISA twice in the 1980s, alleged that Felda has made it compulsory for settlers to replant their crop through the body’s appointed contractor, a scheme which caused settlers to be in debt for the rest of their lives.
The PKR Felda bureau campaign however is not without competition.
The Umno-linked the Malaysian Felda Youth Council (MBFM) has been kept busy to counter the opposition campaign in Felda settlements.
“Yes they have become more aggressive, especially after Hulu Selangor when they lost in Felda settlements,” said MBFM president Annuar Manap, referring to the by-election where PKR’s Datuk Zaid Ibrahim lost badly in Malay-majority areas.
“They tried many ways, but we conduct our own information programme also,” said Annuar, who is an Umno Youth division chief in Johor.
“They are saying Felda is going to be bankrupt, but we told the settlers, if that is the case, we would have been chased out of our land. They understood our explanation,” he told The Malaysian Insider.
Annuar said MBFM, which has about 100,000 members, has been very active in all 54 parliamentary constituencies where Felda settlements are located since the last general election.
“The support for BN remains strong. The opposition, the outsiders talk about money but they don’t know settlers are actually getting the money, that is why you don’t hear settlers complaining,” said Annuar.
“Felda gives RM40,000 interest-free loan for replanting, cash incentive of RM1,000 for settlers’ children who enrol in degree programmes and RM500 for diploma,” he said.
The government also said yesterday that some 1,500 children of Felda settlers have Ph.d qualifications, in an effort to show it has brought progress to those in the land scheme.
Azlan Zainal, who leads the opinion research firm Ilham Centre, believes that PR still has a long way to go before winning the Felda votes.
“Felda will remain under BN control. But Pakatan will make inroads. BN’s support will reduce a little bit because of the campaign,” said Azlan.
He added that PR’s embarrassing defeat in the Bagan Pinang, in Negri Sembilan, and Hulu Selangor by-elections has taught the opposition the importance of rural Malay votes.
“From what we have noticed, PAS or PKR can win if the information reaches the settlers,” said Azlan, who has conducted several surveys on Malay votes for the Islamic party.
“In places where they lost, it was because information did not reach the settlers and Umno is very strong,” he added.
PKR
Felda bureau chairman Suhaimi Said told The Malaysian Insider the party has been busy organising meetings with settlers and forming party branches, turning Felda settlements into a battlefront for the next general election.“Felda settlers are slowly preparing for an uprising. They are rural Malays, they may not be able to talk like Hindraf supporters or protest like them, but look at our conventions, seminars for Felda settlers, the response has been encouraging,” said Suhaimi, referring to the Hindu Rights Action Force which was behind the country’s largest Indian protest in 2007.
“In the 1980s we used to get, at most, 50 people at Felda gatherings. Now it’s not unusual to get thousands of people,” said Suhaimi.
The Hindraf protest saw some 30,000 Indians marching in the streets of Kuala Lumpur to protest against alleged discrimination.
The protest is said to have led to Barisan Nasional (BN) losing its customary two-thirds majority in Parliament.
Felda currently administers about 480 settlements nationwide with 112,635 settlers.
The largely Malay settlers backed BN in the last general election, resulting in PR’s defeat in rural, Malay-majority constituencies where most Felda settlements are located.
PR has intensified its efforts to win the Felda votes since Election 2008 with various rallies and recruitment drive.
“They admitted the decline in cash reserve. How they spent money for unnecessary projects, for their new headquarters,” said Suhaimi, referring to Datuk Ahmad Maslan’s recent remarks on Felda’s cash reserve.
The deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department had admitted Felda’s cash reserves plunged from RM4.08 billion in 2004 to RM1.35 billion in 2009.
He clarified that RM2 billion was spent for replanting crops, RM603 million for interest-free housing loans, RM253 million for Sabah poverty eradication efforts and RM662 million was used for the controversial new Felda headquarters.
“So we wonder what will happen in five years’ time. We ask the settlers what is Felda’s future if this is how they are managing the money,” said Suhaimi.
PKR and its publication Suara Keadilan are facing legal action over its report alleging that Felda was on the verge of bankruptcy.
“We do not want Felda to be bankrupt, we want Felda to prosper for settlers,” said Suhaimi, who has been campaigning actively especially in Pahang Felda settlements.
“If Felda continues to spend money like this for political projects and mistreat settlers, it won’t be long before settlers turn to Pakatan Rakyat,” said the lawyer, who has been working on Felda settlers’ rights since the 1980s.
Apart from the abuse of cash reserve, Suhaimi claimed that the land authority has deviated from its original objective to help landless Malays but is now treating settlers as a source of cheap labour.
Suhaimi, who was arrested under the ISA twice in the 1980s, alleged that Felda has made it compulsory for settlers to replant their crop through the body’s appointed contractor, a scheme which caused settlers to be in debt for the rest of their lives.
The PKR Felda bureau campaign however is not without competition.
The Umno-linked the Malaysian Felda Youth Council (MBFM) has been kept busy to counter the opposition campaign in Felda settlements.
“Yes they have become more aggressive, especially after Hulu Selangor when they lost in Felda settlements,” said MBFM president Annuar Manap, referring to the by-election where PKR’s Datuk Zaid Ibrahim lost badly in Malay-majority areas.
“They tried many ways, but we conduct our own information programme also,” said Annuar, who is an Umno Youth division chief in Johor.
“They are saying Felda is going to be bankrupt, but we told the settlers, if that is the case, we would have been chased out of our land. They understood our explanation,” he told The Malaysian Insider.
Annuar said MBFM, which has about 100,000 members, has been very active in all 54 parliamentary constituencies where Felda settlements are located since the last general election.
“The support for BN remains strong. The opposition, the outsiders talk about money but they don’t know settlers are actually getting the money, that is why you don’t hear settlers complaining,” said Annuar.
“Felda gives RM40,000 interest-free loan for replanting, cash incentive of RM1,000 for settlers’ children who enrol in degree programmes and RM500 for diploma,” he said.
The government also said yesterday that some 1,500 children of Felda settlers have Ph.d qualifications, in an effort to show it has brought progress to those in the land scheme.
Azlan Zainal, who leads the opinion research firm Ilham Centre, believes that PR still has a long way to go before winning the Felda votes.
“Felda will remain under BN control. But Pakatan will make inroads. BN’s support will reduce a little bit because of the campaign,” said Azlan.
He added that PR’s embarrassing defeat in the Bagan Pinang, in Negri Sembilan, and Hulu Selangor by-elections has taught the opposition the importance of rural Malay votes.
“From what we have noticed, PAS or PKR can win if the information reaches the settlers,” said Azlan, who has conducted several surveys on Malay votes for the Islamic party.
“In places where they lost, it was because information did not reach the settlers and Umno is very strong,” he added.
No comments:
Post a Comment