THE welfare of 112,635 smallholders and their families has always been close to Felda chairman Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad’s heart.
Since its establishment in 1956, the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) has grown from a plantations scheme manager to become a large conglomerate with operations in more than 10 countries.
“The government has played a pivotal role in transforming the socio-economic landscape of Malaysia to eradicate poverty, especially those in rural areas, and now, Felda has become a global player and has made tremendous contributions to the nation,” said Isa, who was appointed Felda chairman in 2011.
He said Felda was also always on the mind of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak as it was the brainchild of his father, the late Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, Malaysia’s second prime minister, who served from 1970 to 1976.
“Felda was set up to eradicate poverty and has grown to become a formidable company.
“To ensure its continued success, we will help the younger generation, with the cooperation of various financial institutions, to finds ways to ease loan applications for housing purchases,” said Mohd Isa, who graduated with a Bachelor in Arts from the University of Malaya.
Felda Group also provides various opportunities for settlers to improve themselves through expert guidance and knowledge expansion via skills training courses and entrepreneurship programmes.
“With their skills, settlers can become entrepreneurs or work in the private sector,” said Mohd Isa, who was previously the menteri besar of Negri Sembilan from 1982 to 2004, Jempol member of parliament, federal territories minister and former Umno vice-president.
Mohd Isa called on Felda settlers to always be grateful for what they had received as it was the result of years of hard work.
He hopes to continue leading Felda to become among the world’s top 10 agro-players by 2020.