The Rubber Industry Smallholders Development Authority (Risda) has been allocated RM121 million by the government to carry out rubber replanting programme, covering 40 hectares nationwide, next year.

Its chairperson, Abdul Rahim Thamby Chik, said it was the biggest allocation received by Risda.

"It's a very good news for the smallholders. Replanting of the rubber trees has to be carried out, although the current price of rubber is high," Rahim told reporters at the Risda Plantation Aidilfitri celebration in Kuala Lumpur today.

He said programmes would be carried out by Risda to get its smallholders to replant their rubber trees.

Under the replanting programme, each smallholder in the peninsula would receive aid of RM9,230 per hectare, while those in Sabah and Sarawak would get RM14,000, he added.

Rahim said there were 198,000 hectares of rubber plantation ready for replanting.

Rubber smallholders who were not keen to work on their own plantations could get Risda Plantation Sdn Bhd (RPSB) to do it for them, he said, adding that the owners would be paid dividends every three months.

Meanwhile, RPSB chief executive officer Mohamat Muda, when contacted, said its pre-tax profit for 2010 was RM8.06 million through its 845 commercial replanting projects (TSK), involving 51,171 hectares.

The company was also able to pay dividends, totalling RM117.66 million, to 26,137 TSK participants, he added.

-Bernama