Azmin: Felda cost of living loan, yield advance maintained

JEMPOL: The RM1,500 Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) cost of living loan and advance from yield will be maintained, said Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Azmin Ali.

He said, the decision was concluded in Parliament recently following several discussions held with Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

“We admit that earlier on, the suggestion to reduce the living loan and advance from yield was suggested by Felda’s board of directors, taking into account the agency’s financial situation.

“The matter was brought up to Dr Mahathir for further discussions, but the idea was rejected as he felt that it could put a strain on settlers, especially with the current economic situation.

“Despite what had been said about the issue by some quarters, the government has decided to maintain the rate,” he said after visiting the Felda new generation housing project in Palong 8 here yesterday.

Present were Deputy Economic Affairs Minister Dr Mohd Radzi Md Jidin, state Investment, Industrialisation, Entrepreneurship, Education and Human Capital Committee chairman Dr Mohamad Rafie Ab Malek, state Rural Development Action Committee chairman Ismail Ahmad and Felda director-general Datuk Dr Othman Omar.

The proposal to reduce the cost of living loan and advance from yield from RM1,500 a month to RM1,000 a month was announced last month following Felda’s critical financial condition.

In a statement issued by its Corporate Communication Unit, Felda had said it was facing financial challenges to meet its commitment of RM500 million a year towards the cost of living loan and advance from yield.

Azmin said construction of 839 Felda new generation housing units in the state, which would cost RM90 million, would be resumed and was expected to be fully completed this year.

“They are part of 5,000 Felda new generation housing units, which are 70 to 90 per cent ready and will be completed as stated in the Felda White Paper.”

Earlier, Azmin, who was on a one-day working visit to the state, attended a dialogue for Felda settlers here, which included a briefing on the Felda White Paper for settlers who attended the programme.

On the government’s decision to reinstate the Bandar Malaysia project, Azmin said the project did not involve provisions from the government but was driven by private sector

“This project will not only involve commercial and residential property development, but will also include strategic development that can attract investors from multinational companies, especially in the financial sector. We want to make Malaysia a financial hub in the region.”

On Friday, Dr Mahathir announced that the government would resume the Bandar Malaysia project with a gross development value of RM140 billion after it was stopped in May 2017.