KOTA TINGGI: All roads in Felda settlements statewide will now be maintained with funds from the Malaysian Road Records Information System (Marris).

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said that he supported the suggestion made by Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Mohamed Khaled Nordin.

In Johor, there are a total of 73 Felda settlements covering 13 parliamentary constituencies and 21 state assemblies with a total of 146,000 voters.

Johor is the second largest in terms of Felda settlements nationwide.

Najib was speaking during the national-level Felda breaking fast event at Felda Sungai Sayong here.

Some 5,000 people attended the event.

Earlier Mohamed Khaled in his speech suggested that Felda roads be maintained by Marris, similar to other village roads in the state.

“Now there is no difference between other villages and Felda settlements as they now have ownership and even formed village development and security committees at the settlements,” he said.

Mohamed Khaled added that the state government was committed to settling the land ownership issue involving about 3,500 settlers.

“We understand that this is not just a piece of land but also their history and the dignity of the settlers,” he added.

He said as land matters were within the purview of the state government, they were doing their best to speed up the process of awarding the land titles to the settlers.

“Since 2013, we have given land titles to 6,866 settlers,” he said

Mohamed Khaled also added that the state government together with the Federal Land Development Authority have formed a special committee to deal with issues affecting Felda settlements statewide, especially on matters regarding ownership, housing and infrastructure development.

He added that other issues include addressing the housing woes for second generation Felda settlers being built by Syarikat Perumahan Negara Bhd.

“This committee is headed by the Felda chairman along with two state executive councilors.

“Whatever is done by the Federal government to develop Felda into a conglomerate will receive the state’s full support and backing,” Mohamed Khaled said.