KUALA LUMPUR: Engagement sessions will be held to explain to Felda settlers the benefits of merging their lands into big estates, Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali said yesterday.
These sessions will be conducted through the Settlers’ Consultative Committee, he said.
“We need to work hard to talk to them. We want to convince them that it is the way forward.
“If we continue with the present system, we find that they will not be able to raise their income,” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the government plans to merge Felda settlers’ lands to become big estates that can generate a lucrative income for them through more efficient and professional management.
However, Dr Mahathir said, efforts to convince Felda settlers to go down this road might be difficult in the beginning, especially with the first-generation settlers now mostly aged above 60.
Elaborating, Mohamed Azmin said merging the settlers’ lands will help the early generation of settlers, almost 70 per cent of whom are aged 60 and above.
“They do not have the capacity to work the land. Now we want to provide them with new technology, but they have to amalgamate. We are not acquiring the land. We have to get their consent because the land belongs to them.
“If we have 1,000 or 2,000 acres (about 400 or 800 hectares) for a pilot project and the project is successful, the other settlers can be with us to drive this initiative,” he said. — Bernama