Federal Land Development Authority
Encyclopedia
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| Established: | July 6, 1956 |
| Activated: | July, 1958 |
| Chairman: | Tan Sri Dr Mohd Yusof Noor |
| Previous Chairman: | Tan Sri Muhammad Alias bin Raja Muhammad Ali |
| Budget: | RM Malaysian ringgit The Malaysian ringgit is the currency of Malaysia. It is divided into 100 sen... 1.5 billion (2005) |
| Employees: | 615 (2006) |
The Federal Land Development Authority (more commonly referred to as FELDA) is a Malaysian government agency handling the resettlement of rural
Rural
Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...
poor into newly developed areas. It focuses on opening smallholder farm
Farm
A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...
s growing cash crop
Cash crop
In agriculture, a cash crop is a crop which is grown for profit.The term is used to differentiate from subsistence crops, which are those fed to the producer's own livestock or grown as food for the producer's family...
s. FELDA's schemes are generally open only to ethnic Malays
Malay people
Malays are an ethnic group of Austronesian people predominantly inhabiting the Malay Peninsula, including the southernmost parts of Thailand, the east coast of Sumatra, the coast of Borneo, and the smaller islands which lie between these locations...
, who form a majority of the Malaysian population.
FELDA is the world's largest plantation operator, with 811140 hectares (2,004,368.8 acre) of oil palm
Oil palm
The oil palms comprise two species of the Arecaceae, or palm family. They are used in commercial agriculture in the production of palm oil. The African Oil Palm Elaeis guineensis is native to West Africa, occurring between Angola and Gambia, while the American Oil Palm Elaeis oleifera is native to...
s, mainly across Peninsular Malaysia while making less presence in Sabah and Sarawak. It also operates plantations and oil mills in Indonesia. Although FELDA is mainly pre-occupied with alleviating rural poverty through resettlement, it reportedly holds a minority stake in some major Malaysian bank
Bank
A bank is a financial institution that serves as a financial intermediary. The term "bank" may refer to one of several related types of entities:...
s.
History
FELDA was formed on July 1, 1956 when the Land Development Act came into force. Its initial capital was M$Malaya and British Borneo dollar
The Malaya and British Borneo dollar was the currency of Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak, British North Borneo and Brunei from 1953 to 1967. The currency was issued by the Board of Commissioners of Currency, Malaya and British Borneo...
10 million, and the first FELDA settlement, comprising 16.2 sqkm of land and focused on rubber
Rubber
Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that was originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants would be ‘tapped’, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk colored latex sap collected and refined...
, was opened at Ayer Lanas the following year. In 1958, five similar schemes were opened.
In the 1960s and 1970s, government policy began to emphasise crop diversification
Agricultural diversification
In the agricultural context, diversification can be regarded as the re-allocation of some of a farm's productive resources, such as land, capital, farm equipment and paid labour, into new activities...
, in an effort to avoid being affected if the world price of rubber were to drop precipitously. In 1961, FELDA's first oil palm settlement opened, with 3.75 sqkm of land. As of 2000, 6855.2 sqkm (approximately 76%) of the land under FELDA's programs are devoted to oil palms.
FELDA focuses mainly on West Malaysia (Peninsular Malaysia); other government agencies are responsible for land development in the states of Sabah
Sabah
Sabah is one of 13 member states of Malaysia. It is located on the northern portion of the island of Borneo. It is the second largest state in the country after Sarawak, which it borders on its southwest. It also shares a border with the province of East Kalimantan of Indonesia in the south...
and Sarawak
Sarawak
Sarawak is one of two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. Known as Bumi Kenyalang , Sarawak is situated on the north-west of the island. It is the largest state in Malaysia followed by Sabah, the second largest state located to the North- East.The administrative capital is Kuching, which...
, which form East Malaysia
East Malaysia
East Malaysia, also known as Malaysian Borneo, is the part of Malaysia located on the island of Borneo. It consists of the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak, and the Federal Territory of Labuan. It lies to the east from Peninsular Malaysia , which is located on the Malay Peninsula. The two are...
.
Scheme management
Settlers are drawn from rural Malay poor. They should be aged between 21 and 50 years, married, and physically fit. Priority was given to those who did not own any land to farm.New settlers are assigned to a particular settlement, and are given 10 acres (4 ha), 12 acres (4.9 ha) or 14 acres (5.7 ha) of land to cultivate usually either rubber or oil palms. All settlers must reside at the settlement itself, and are allotted 0.25 acre (0.1011715 ha) in a planned village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
, where their home — already built by FELDA — is located. Although basic infrastructure, such as piped water and electricity
Electricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
, used to be lacking, nowadays such facilities are readily provided. Schools, medical centres, and places of worship are also provided.
Originally, FELDA schemes were designed as co-operatives, where instead of each settler owning a defined piece of land, each settler held an equal share in the ownership of the particular scheme. However, the settlers did not prefer this scheme, as workers who did not tend to the land properly still benefited (a sort of free rider problem
Free rider problem
In economics, collective bargaining, psychology, and political science, a free rider is someone who consumes a resource without paying for it, or pays less than the full cost. The free rider problem is the question of how to limit free riding...
). The government then set up a 3-phase plan, where in the first phase, the co-operative remained as a mechanism for the settlers to learn how to farm. In the second phase, each settler was given a specific plot of land to work, and in the third phase, he was given the land title to that plot. However, the settler was forbidden from selling the land without permission from FELDA or the federal government.
The costs of acquiring, developing and allocating the land are borne by loans made to FELDA settlers. These loans are repaid in monthly installments deducted from the settlers' income over a 15-year period.
Although settlers are supposed to focus on agricultural activities, it has been reported that a substantial number are also engaged in other activities, such as shopkeeping. Some are even employed in jobs outside the settlement.
In recent years, the growth of urban areas has led to a substantial increase in the land value of some settlements. With permission, many settlers have sold their farms, becoming instant millionaire
Millionaire
A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. It can also be a person who owns one million units of currency in a bank account or savings account...
s.
Diversification
FELDA has diversified from its original business of land development, to other economic ventures — some of them entirely unrelated to land resettlement. Although FELDA has subsidiaries involved in businesses such as marketing, transportation, milling, etc., it also reportedly has a stake in some major Malaysian banks, such as MaybankMaybank
Maybank , a trade name for Malayan Banking Berhad is the largest bank and financial group in Malaysia, with significant banking operations in Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines. The bank also has large interests in Islamic banking through Maybank Islamic Berhad and insurance via its Etiqa...
.
FELDA in Sarawak
FELDA does not really make a significant presence in Sarawak. There is only one FELDA in Sarawak, which is located at Kampung Sampadi, Lundu District. However, the status of this FELDA land is still disputed between being a settlement or plantation-only scheme. Local villagers who are hired to work here was not being given any of the lands provided, unlike their counterparts in West Malaysia.SALCRA (Sarawak Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority), a state government agency is more prominent in developing agricultural lands for palm oil plantation use in Sarawak compared to FELDA.
In popular culture
- In 2006, FELDA had produced its first movie named BilutBilutBilut is a 2006 Malaysian historical film written by Tengku Adrian Ismail and directed by Badaruddin Azmi .- Plot :In 1960, Yazid, together with his friend Rosli and a few other settlers arrived in Lurah Bilut, which they regarded as the land of exploration and opportunity...
, named after the first FELDA settlement ever in Malaysia. Starring Rosyam NorRosyam NorMohamed Noor bin Shamsuddin is a two-time Asia Pacific Film Festival Award-winning Malaysian film, stage actor and occasional executive producer.-Early career:...
, the main plot of Bilut is about the obstacles faced by the early settlers of FELDA Lurah BilutLurah BilutLurah Bilut is the oldest estate town in Malaysia. It is located in the district of Bentong, Pahang. This estate town was established in 1960 by the Federal Land Development Authority ....
.