Some 700 settlers from the Federal Land Development Agency (Felda) settlement in Jengka will file a suit against the agency on Friday for cheating them of payment for their oil palm fruit.

In the suit, to be filed at the Temerloh High Court, the settlers will claim that Felda had downgraded their harvest, resulting in losses of up to RM1,000 per fruit bunch.

palm oil plantation farmers 261108 "Laboratory results show that the fruit bunches have an oil extraction rate (OER) of up to 26 percent, when Felda claimed that the fruit bunches only have OER of 17 percent," said PKR Felda and Orang Asal Affairs bureau member Rebin Birham.

Speaking on the sidelines of the the Selangor Felda Taskforce workshop in Shah Alam, Rebin said it is expected that several hundred more Felda Jengka settlers will join in the suit.

azlan The suit follows a landmark Federal Court decision which found Felda guilty of cheating the Felda Kemahang settlers of the oil extraction rate.

Acting on behalf of the settlers will be lawyer and Subang parliamentarian R Sivarasa, who is also representing Felda settlements in Serting and Gugusan Raja Alias in a RM200 million lawsuit against the agency for alleged breach of trust.

Felda faces another suit by 32 settlers in Jempol who are demanding their rights to appoint their own contractor for the felling of rubber trees as Felda Management is offering payment below market rate.

Deluge of lawsuits await Felda

Speaking about this at the workshop, PKR Felda and Orang Asal Affairs bureau chairperson Suhaimi Said claimed that this is just the tip of the iceberg.

NONE "There are also some 300 settlers in Felda Keratong who are ready to file a suit against the agency, while those in Johor and Perak are now preparing their cases," said the activist and human rights lawyer.

Suhaimi ( left ) said that settlers actually see lawsuits as a last resort and prefer negotiations but "Felda's way of negotiating is to tell settlers that they are ingrates".

While the lawyers who champion such cases are from Pakatan Rakyat, the settlers who are filing the cases have varied political affiliations, he noted.

"It's not an election issue. The Jempol settlers are all Umno members, but they could not get an Umno lawyer to take up their case so we did.  

"But having assisted people who in turn did not support us, we now say, 'We can take this to court, but please support us come the next election’," he told about 60 stakeholders.

He also urged more lawyers to offer their services for this cause.

Greater autonomy for S'gor Felda settlers