THE construction of about 2,300 abandoned houses for second generation Felda settlers will be completed next year, said the Economic Affairs Ministry.

Deputy Minister Mohd Radzi Jidin said the 2,000 units were part of the 20,000 houses for second generation settlers that the Pakatan Harapan government wants to build in five years.

Putrajaya has earmarked RM1.5 billion to revive abandoned housing schemes and start new ones, Radzi said.

Of the 20,000 units that the government intends to build, about 8,300 had been completed by the end of 2018.

The Second Generation Felda Housing scheme (PPG2), which was started by the previous Barisan Nasional government, had run into problems due to improper planning and a lack of funds, he said.

In its white paper on Felda, the PH government said that the land agency suffered billions of ringgit in losses due to mismanagement and fraud perpetrated by its previous leadership.

These malpractices resulted in a lack of funds for PPG2 projects.

“We are studying the implementation and outcome of this scheme to determine whether it meets its goals of providing housing for second generation settlers,” Radzi told the Dewan Rakyat today.

“Our aim is to first focus on abandoned projects which are 70% complete,” he said in reply to Dr Hasan Bahrom

(BN-Tampin).

“As of today, about 63% of these types of houses, or 1,900 of them, have been finished and have been issued certificates of completion.”

The 1,900 are part of the 3,096 of the abandoned units that are currently being built, Radzi said.

The PPG2 project aims to rehabilitate the 62-year-old Felda scheme which today has about one million inhabitants from about 112,000 families. Most of them depend on oil palm and rubber to earn a living.

Other measures to revive Felda include debt relief for settler families and new economic activities to supplement the inconsistent income from oil palm. – November 25, 2019.