BERA, Jun 12 – A total of 59,951 participants of Felcra Berhad nationwide will receive “duit raya” when the agency began disbursing its first interim dividend for this year totalling RM84.18 million. Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the amount was from profits earned through a project covering 106,763ha for the period between January and April this year, which was worth RM120.271 million.
Only 70% of the profit would be disbursed as dividends, with the remaining to used as reserve to finance the operation cost of the plantation, especially fertiliser, he told a media conference after the handing over of Felcra dividend and “Cahaya Ramadan” programme at the Felda Tambangau 6/8 Community Hall today. Also present was Felcra chairman Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin.
Ismail Sabri said each of the participants would receive between RM2,000 and RM8,000 depending on the size of their plantation. He said the dividend payment was higher compared with last year, which was RM74 million to 75,184 participants. He said the increase is due to higher price of the commodity, which is RM312.72 per metric tonne for oil palm, RM7.49 per kilogramme for rubber and RM1,200 per metric tonne for paddy.
He also said that Felcra recorded a profit of RM254.22 million last year through 963 projects. In a related development, Ismail Sabri said Felcra was studying the feasibility of disbursing monthly dividend payment to participants which had been carried out in some area in Perak. Currently, Felcra pays dividend three times in a year, he added. — Bernama
