KUALA LUMPUR: The Terengganu government has rejected payments from Felda on land parcels it has developed in the state because the corporate body has declined to house settlers on the property.
Kuala Terengganu MP Mohd Abdul Wahid Endut, from PAS, said the state declined to accept payment as a protest against Felda’s refusal to house 3,000 settlers on the 14,791.23 hectares of land it had developed.
He said that while the Terengganu government had allowed Felda to develop 48,142.23 hectares of land, it was however on condition that 33,351 hectares be turned into settlements for 7,463 settlers.
“Felda is now refusing to do this. It wants the land for plantations so that it can make profit and enrich the company,” he said when met at Parliament today.
He added that although discussions between the two were ongoing, it was obvious from their attitude that Felda was more interested in corporate gains.
‘The late (Prime Minister) Tun Razak’s hope was to open up land and resolve the poverty among the people. But Felda has veered from that spirit. It is now a corporate body only interested in profiteering,” he added.
Abdul Wahid had earlier raised the issue in Parliament, seeking the Prime Minister’s explanation of the amount of land the Felda has developed without settlers and how much it had paid in premiums.
According to him, Felda still has outstanding amounts in premiums owed to Terengganu and as such the state considered the body and an “illegal” entity.
“We discussed the issue at the state assembly. From the explanation, we understood that Felda has not paid the state government.
“Since they have not paid the premium, they (Felda) are an illegal developer” Abdul Wahid, who is also a state elected representative, said.
Felda’s asset value up
Meanwhile, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Ahmad Maslan said the current and fixed asset value of Felda between 2004 and 2009 rose by RM6.2 billion although its cash reserves dropped by RM2.73 billion during the same period.
Ahmad said that in 2004, Felda recorded assets totalling RM9.17 billion while in 2009, the figure rose to RM15.37 billion.
“However, Felda’s cash reserves declined slightly by RM2.73 billion for the same period,” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby today when commenting on opposition claims that the Felda cash reserves had dropped drastically.
Ahmad said Felda’s cash reserves declined due to various expenditures such as the RM2.41 billion spent on socio-economic development.-FMT
