SUNGKAI, July 7 — The Agrobank will be providing financial assistance for a new generation of Felda settlers to buy a house, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced today.
He said Agrobank has agreed to extend the terms of the loan and offer lower interest rates to eligible applicants under the Felda New Generation Housing Project (PGBF).
“The loan rate is now 110 per cent higher than the house value with a maximum of RM300,000.
“A Memorandum of Understanding will be signed with Agrobank today to provide the settlers with a loan facility to own their own home,” he said at the Felda Mara Junior Science College, Tun Abdul Razak Campus in Trolak here to mark Felda Settlers Day 2020.
RM1 billion for development
Muhyiddin also said that the government is allocating RM1 billion for a period of four years to continue the Felda Settlers Development Programme following the success of the scheme initiated last November, which benefitted 300 settlers at the Felda Bukit Rokan in Negri Sembilan.
“This programme will be continued at all Felda nationwide, which is expected to benefit 31,000 settlers,” he added.
RM200 million for roads, RM45 million for hostel facilities
The Pagoh MP also said the government is allocating RM200 million to upgrade and maintain the roads at the Felda plantation nationwide.
“This will help to increase the productivity of the produce and at the same time reduce the burden of the settlers who all this while bearing the cost to repair the roads,” he said.
“The government also agreed to spend RM45 million to upgrade the facilities at the Asrama Semai Bakti Felda in Kuala Lumpur, Johor Baru and Kuantan,” he added.
In order to strengthen the financial status of Felda, Muhyiddin also said that he had established a special team to manage the issues faced by settlers, which will be chaired by Tan Sri Abdul Wahid Omar.
Enabling new generation of entrepreneurs
Muhyiddin also said that Felda will be working together with University Putra Malaysia (UPM) to identify 15 high-value entrepreneurial projects in order to produce more successful entrepreneurs.
“This cooperation targets 3,170 entrepreneurs in a period of five months, who will be allowed to use the facilities in the UPM Agricultural Faculty,” he said.
Also present at the launching today were Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department for Economic Affairs Arthur Joseph Kurup and Felda chairman Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh.
