A PILOT project to plant pineapples to boost Felda settlers’ incomes, which was a key Pakatan Harapan promise, has yet to take off despite being launched almost a year ago.

The project was launched with much fanfare by adviser to the government Daim Zainuddin on December 23 last year in Felda Sg Tengi in Hulu Selangor.  

The MD2 pineapples were to be a supplementary crop for the 560 Felda settlers to tide them over as revenue from their main crop oil palm fluctuated in the world market.  

If the Felda Sg Tengi experiment worked, it would have been replicated across all Felda schemes and held as an example of how PH administration had successfully boosted settlers’ incomes.

The government allocated RM250 million for supplementary food crops, such as pineapples and bananas, and livestock rearing, as part of its turn-around plan for the ailing scheme.  

“This is a pioneer project. After 14 months, we would have gone to different schemes all across the country and would not have required added funds,” said Mohamad Stap Othman, the head of a Felda settlers’ welfare group.

If the scheme had started on time, the settlement would have been harvesting the pineapples by the middle of next year as the fruits take about 14 to 15 months to mature.

If it had taken off, Felda Sg Tengi and its settlers would have earned about RM59 million.

“We would have used money from the first harvest (of pineapples) to go around the country to promote the project,” said Stap, chairman of the 2nd Generation Felda Settlers’ Association (SGK2F).

“I felt embarrassed when I met Daim at an event in Perak. He asked me about the status of the project and I didn’t know what to say to him,” Stap told The Malaysian Insight.

No money

Felda Sg Tengi was picked for the pilot project as its palm oil estates were being replanted. The gaps between the palm oil trees were where the pineapples would be planted.

Oil palm take about three to four years to mature and bear fruit while pineapples take 14 months.

The plan is for settlers to harvest and sell the pineapples while waiting for the palm oil trees to mature.

Stap said because the project did not start on time, there are no more gaps between the palm oil trees as they grew.

“We were given short-term and long-term projects. For short term, we were advised to plant chillies and MD2 pineapples in the long term.

“For chillies and sweet potatoes, we planned to give each settler in the programme 2,000 bags and plant them in 200 acres around the scheme, such as areas close to riverbanks,” he said.

“When we asked Felda’s management, they said there was no budget for the programme. But it’s there in the Felda white paper. Its RM250 million a year. Where is the money?”

According to Stap, planting pineapples would only cost RM20 million.

“The market price for MD2 is RM5 each, the seedlings can be sold at RM1.60 and for each tree, it can produce four seedlings. You can grow 18,000 pineapple plants on one acre. Imagine how much money we would have made.”

Wasted opportunity

Stap and Felda Sg Tengi village chief Saad Latib suspect that the obstacle was the Felda management itself.

“The pineapple board was also committed to helping us but we needed approval from Felda to use the land. We sent letters to use five acres of land in Sg Tengi but there has been no answer,” Stap said.

In April, Felda released a memo freezing all applications to use its reserve land.

Saad said there has been no update from the management about the pilot project after Daim’s visit, adding that a group of men came claiming to be the project’s consultants.

“They said they wanted to use 500 acres of land, involving 50 settlers and then they said they wanted to examine the land and then they will call the settlers for a briefing.

“However, we have not seen them,” he said when met at his office.

Stap is saddened over the project’s wasted opportunity as it would have benefited the whole scheme and not just the settlers who were to be part of the pilot programme.

“When we started planting, we gave monthly incentives of about RM400. From the sale of the crops, we gave 30% from each sale. It means, every settler would have gotten the benefit not just those whose land were used.” – October 28, 2019.