KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 13 – The Federal Agricultural Development Authority (FAMA) has been urged to assist residents in non-farming villages in Kelantan to improve their economy. In this regard, UMNO Rantau Panjang division chief Datuk Abdullah Mat Yassim said FAMA should set up a factory.
“Rather than allowing fruits such as rambutan, duku and langsat grown by the residents in their compounds to fall and return to the soil, FAMA could buy and collectively process them into value-added products such as fruit jam. In this way FAMA can help the residents in earning extra income,” he told Bernama after making the proposal while debating the motion on economy at the UMNO General Assembly 2015 here Saturday.
Earlier during the debate, he proposed that needy students be given priority in the 1-Billion Education Fund (TP1B) initiated by the UiTM Malaysia Alumni Association which was announced in April. He said no doubt, there are plenty of students who qualify for sponsorship but let us select those from the needy group first. He also said that without any sponsorship they are forced to resort to the banks which imposed personal loan conditions that they cannot fulfil.
TP1B was mooted by Second Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh in 2014 to collect RM1 billion from the association’s members to fund scholarship, welfare assistance, upgrading of facilities and research and development programmes. Meanwhile, Abdullah also proposed that the allowance for Community Development Department assistants, Village Development and Security Committee (JKKK) and Federal JKKK chairmen be increased.
