The broken dreams of Felda’s new generation

Siti Roslina Ismail (right) beside her mother said that she cannot afford a house at Felda Keratong low-cost housing project. - Picture by Jack Ooi

ROMPIN, July 14 — Deep in the Pahang countryside, abandoned low-cost housing litter the pastoral surroundings of Felda Keratong while its serenity is now punctuated by the litany of complaints from a new generation of settlers.
The sons and daughters of the original pioneers of Tun Abdul Razak’s landmark programme to open up rural Malaysia to ordinary planters as part of the country’s wealth distribution policies are now disillusioned, and many feel they can no longer depend on the government to protect their welfare.
The remote settlement of Felda Keratong is just 15km from Muadzam Shah which in turn is near the state’s royal town of Pekan, which also happens to be the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
These children of the original settlers are angry with the Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA) because they claim local officers are only interested in protecting their own and not the interests of the people.
Surina Osman told The Malaysian Insider that the term “Felda’s second generation” is insignificant because it does not afford them any privileges.
“Felda’s second generation is only in name because we do not get anything from it,” said the 32-year-old mother.
She said Felda families are being forced to leave the plantation because they cannot find any future and opportunities in the settlement.
“The youth are jobless and have nothing to do. They come with qualifications and cannot find any jobs. They refused to work in the plantation because the pay is too low. So you end up seeing youths in plantations getting addicted to drugs,” she said.
Najib had recently announced that the government would build low-cost housing projects which are tailored for the second generation of settler families or their children.

Abandoned houses at the low-cost housing project for second generation Felda families in Felda Keratong. - Picture by Jack Ooi

However many of the Felda families are still not able to find homes because they cannot afford it.
Siti Roslina Ismail said her application was rejected by Felda because the officers told her that her family did not meet the criteria.
“We went to their office but they refused to entertain us. They rejected us because we do not have any pay slips. How can they expect my husband to have pay slips when he does not have a real job. He is only a basic plantation worker,” she said.
The mother of five added that the officers would only accept applications if the applicants earned at least RM1,000 a month.
“My husband only makes RM500. Felda should share its profits with the workers. For 14 years, my husband has never received any increment. The only time he received a bonus, he received RM700 including the salary. How can they expect us to survive? We have to pay for our children’s education,” said the 34-year-old housewife.
Siti Roslina now rents her brother’s place with her mother.
“I am very disappointed because how are we supposed to find a home with only RM500? I have to think about my children’s future? If my husband dies then what will happen to us?” she asked.
Felda also currently offers loans from RM20,000 to RM40,000 for settlers to repair or acquire a new house.
However Siti Roslina pointed out that each family could only apply for a loan for one house.
“We have already used my mother’s loan to buy my brother’s house. That is why we are staying here,” she said.

Haspanizan Setapa is angry that houses at the low-housing project are being sold to outsiders. - Picture by Jack Ooi

Haspanizan Setapa said that she was still waiting for approval from Felda to get her own house. “They told us that all of the houses are sold out but you can see that there are many empty houses around here,” said the 32-year-old.
She also claimed that many of the houses are sold to outsiders.
“Some of them actually buy two to three houses. They sell to teachers, police officers but they are willing to leave us with no homes. They use their connection with high-ranking officers to get the houses. We are only asking for one. Most of them don’t even stay here but rent the houses out,” she said
She said that it would be cheaper if the authorities allowed the families to buy the property instead of allowing outsiders to rent it.
“Some of them charged from RM300 to RM500 per month for the houses. That is too much. I think it would be cheaper if we are allowed to buy the houses because we only have to pay RM250 per month but what can we do? They won’t listen to us,” she said.
There are 430 units in the project with each unit costing RM40,000. However only 40 per cent of the houses are occupied.
Her neighbour, Nor Asiah Abdul Aziz, added that many had given up reporting their problems to the authorities.
“Who are we? We are nobody. We have no money. They only listen to those with money,” she said.

Rozali Misnin disappointed with the lack of support from Felda. - Picture by Jack Ooi

Rozali Misnin said that he was angry because he had to take a bank loan to buy his house even though he was a second generation Felda settler. “I am not satisfied that I had to take a bank loan. I should have been able to take a loan from Felda because I am second generation member but I had to take loan with interest which in the end will cost me about RM70, 000. This is not fair,” he said.
He said that he felt helpless because Felda authorities were only looking to make a profit.
“I had to do everything by myself. Even though they provided us with lawyers but the lawyers are from Felda. So every time I complained, the lawyer will do nothing and charged for things which I did not need. The Felda officers even charged RM2 for housing application forms which are actually free,” said the 39-year-old school teacher
His cousin, Aminudin Ahmad, also stressed that Felda should create more job opportunities in the settlements.
“If the second generation had a choice, they do not want to leave the settlement. So Felda should provide more opportunities by opening factories in Felda. Currently, there is only one factory and they only employ only 40 people. Where they do expect the rest to find jobs?” he said.
He added that the disparity between Felda and the Felda families is great that it will not affect them if Felda becomes bankrupt.
“So if there is anything that happens in Felda, the children of settlers will not feel the impact because we still have to pay our loans to the banks,” he said.