Activist accuses BN of using law to bind Felda settlers

(TMI) ROMPIN, July 14 — The Barisan Nasional (BN) government is using the Group Settlement Areas Act 1960 (GSA) to milk Felda settlers for money and prevent them from cultivating their own land, an activist claimed last night

The latest allegation came after the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) parties accused the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) of frittering away its RM4.08 billion cash reserve on unrelated ventures. Felda admitted its cash pile had dwindled to RM1.35 billion last year, but said money went to the settlers and its businesses.

However, National Association of Felda Settlers’ Children (Anak) president Mazlan Aliman said the federal government was using the GSA to control the activities of the Felda settlers and make money off them

“GSA is more like ISA (Internal Security Act) because it scares the settlers. Like how the people are scared of ISA, that is how the settlers are scared of GSA,” he told The Malaysian Insider.

He said settlers must be allowed to manage their own plantations after their debt with Felda is paid off.

“When a settler joins the settlement, he must sign an agreement with Felda. So the settler is bound to the agreement until his debt is paid, and only then [will] he have ownership of his land. When the debt is paid then the settler can decide if he wants Felda to continue manage his land or [if] he wants to manage [it] himself.

“However, only 25,000 settlers have decided to manage their own plantations,” Mazlan said. There are 112,635 Felda settlers in the country.

He claimed that settlers have been pressured into allowing Felda to manage their plantations because it would be profitable to the organisation.

“The settlers that manage their own plantation can have their income. They just [have] to pay the cost of wages and trucks, resulting in higher income.

“Those to have Felda manage their plantation will have their original income [cut] by 40 per cent. Imagine if a settler [previously] earned RM1,000 from the plantation, the amount will be slashed by RM400 and leaving him with only RM600,” Mazlan said.

Read more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/activist-accuses-bn-of-using-law-to-bind-felda-settlers/