KUALA LUMPUR: Yayasan Peneroka Negara chairman Prof Datuk Dr Nik Mohd Zain Nik Yusof (pix) has suggested to the government for all land owned by Felda settlers to be gazetted as Malay reserve land.
Nik Mohd Zain said he was worried that if the land was not gazetted, it would be transferred to third parties, adding that more land in Felda areas was currently being developed for housing and commercial purposes.
“The Felda land owned by settlers is approximately one million acres (404685.6 hectares). All of it should be gazetted as Malay reserve land, which is possible under Article 89 (2) of the Constitution.
“Based on recent statistics, we are very worried, because today, out of 500,000 acres (202342.8 hectares) of commercial land that has either been developed or not developed, only two percent is owned by the Malays,“ he said.
He said this when appearing as one of the panelists via video conference in the Bernama TV programme entitled: ‘Suara Profesor Negara Felda 2020: Berjayakah Transformasi Masyarakat Tidak Bertanah?’ aired live on the network’s official Facebook page yesterday.
The programme is part of a collaboration between Bernama and the National Professors Council (MPN), and can be watched on Bernama TV.
According to Nik Mohd Zain, the proposal to gazette the Felda land had been previously proposed to the government by the National Land Council (NLC), however, it was rejected by several states.
“When I was the secretary of the National Land Council, whose members comprise 10 ministers at the Federal-level, all the menteris besar and chief ministers. We (NLC) had recommended that states gazette the Felda land as Malay reserve land, but unfortunately, some of the states disagreed because of its lower value,“ he said.
Meanwhile, Universiti Nilai chancellor Datuk Tengku Shamsul Bahrin, who was also a panelist on the programme, said it was high time for the settlers to become independent and detach themselves from Felda.
“... will Felda continue to look after settlers from one generation to the next. I think the time has come, after 63 years, that settlers should blend into the society as individuals rather than as a group.
“In my opinion, if the settlers want to develop the land on their own, they should have the choice and they not be bound by the rules imposed by Felda, they need the freedom to plan their own lives,“ he said. — Bernama
