A total of 274,639 rubber smallholders registered with the Rubber Industry Smallholders Development Authority (Risda) will receive the monsoon season aid of RM600, said Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng.

The payment will be made in two instalments, RM300 at the end of this year and the remaining RM300 early next year, he said in a statement.

Lim said that upon a proposal of the Finance Ministry, the cabinet agreed on Dec 12 that RM164,783,400 be allocated to provide the aid to the 274,639 Risda rubber smallholders whose livelihood has been affected by the monsoon season.

"The hardship of the Risda rubber smallholders received the attention of Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad who approved the monsoon season aid,” he said.

Of the 274,639 smallholders, 255,997 are owner-entrepreneurs who work their own smallholdings while 18,642 are tappers who work on land not bigger than 2.5 hectares.

Lim said the Finance Ministry will channel the allocation to the Economic Affairs Ministry which has jurisdiction over Risda.

- Bernama