ECONOMIC Affairs Minister Azmin Ali will be in Jelai to explain when Felda settlers will receive their RM77 million, said Lim Guan Eng.

“It shouldn’t be a problem but I am not sure about the technical issues, he (Azmin) will come down to settle this problem. 

“Thank you to the Felda settlers for raising this. We will try to resolve it so when Azmin comes down, he will settle it as he oversees Felda,” the finance minister said at the launch of Pakatan Harapan’s slogan “Development with Pakatan” as part of the Cameron Highlands by-election in Sg Koyan 3 today.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad ordered the RM77 million allocation to help settlers with outstanding payments for the current year.

PKR vice-president Fuziah Salleh also said the Felda settlers are also under the impression the payout will be made immediately as was the norm under Barisan Nasional rule. 

“Now our payment style has changed in the frequency we release payments. It may be hard for settlers to understand and maybe they expect the old ways of payments,” she said. 

Fuziah said as Azmin is the minister in charge of Felda, he will resolve it once he comes to Jelai. 

The money is to help settlers with outstanding payments for “khairat kematian” (death benefits), outstanding payments to Felda Technoplant Sdn Bhd for farm development operations, cost of living aid and deposits for replanting in the plantations. 

Azmin said earlier this month that White Papers on Felda’s real finances will be tabled at the Dewan Rakyat during its first meeting of the second session of the 14th Parliament.

The tabling was first scheduled for December 10 but postponed to allow certain legal issues to be resolved first. – January 17, 2019.