Our visit to Semenchu is part of the students assignment to assess the sustainability of the community using a set of indicator. We planned to stay there for two nights, starting the journey from UTM Campus on Friday, October 16, at 3 pm and returned on Sunday. There were 12 students involved –four Iranians, one Nigerian, one Pakistani, one Saudi and the rest local. We went by two students’ cars and a faculty vehicle-4WD Fortuner. This was the first time I drove the Fortuner which was purchased by the faculty early this year. But, I found easy to drive it since my car is also Toyota brand with automatic gear and has almost similar setting such as the gear, signal , wiper, and lighting switches. On the way we stopped at a restaurant in Felda Ari Tawar 5, before proceeded to the Semenchu. We arrived in Semenchu about 5.30 pm.
Semenchu is a settlement developed by the Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA). The scheme includes farmland, infrastructure and amenities (housing, basic facilities, road and utilities), processing and marketing. It was aimed to provide opportunities for the poor rural people to improve their standard of living through agricultural, industrial and businesses activities carried out professionally and profitably. Each settler was allocated 10 acres farmland and a housing plot of a quarter acre. Those eligible people in rural areas were selected to become settlers after screening (based on criteria such as experience in farming, income, marital status, dependents) and interview processes. In Semenchu, most of them came from within Johor State such as the districts of Muar, Batu Pahat and Pontian. The first group of settlers entered the scheme in 1976 and last batch 1981. Altogether, there are 628 settlers/houses in the scheme, sub-divided into 27 blocks (each block have around 24 houses).
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| The new variety of palm oil take only three years to bear fruits. | The oil content is about 26 percents of its weight. |
The homestay program in Semenchu started in 2004 and 102 of the settlers participated. We stayed at four of the homestay houses. From our experience the facilities of the homestay were good, with clean toilet, well maintain rooms and furniture in the houses. Students have opportunities to visit farms, palm oil factory, participate in sports and culture performance. We were also invited to attend the marriage ceremony.
In May 2010, a group of UG students did a survey on FELDA Settlers' Satisfaction. The survey covered 12 FELDA settlements in Johor. Members of settlers' household were interviewed including Settlers, Wives, Children and Grand Children. The survey was part of the study undertaken by FELDA to find out the perception of settlers' population on various programmes that has been implemented to improve standard of living. I did supervise the students' survey, and while students were conducting the survey I took opportunities to travel around the settlement and talked to a few people including the Felda officials and settlers. Generally, the settlers were satisfied with their living condition and the programmes implemented by FELDA. Some of the issues raised related to replanting scheme undertaken by the subsidiary company of FELDA (Technoplant), including weaknesses in the management of the plantation (earlier phase); delay in transferring of land title, and fractionism in certain scheme related to differences in political view/affiliation. Most of the settlement schemes has to employ foreign labourers to work in plantation because the original settlers are already too old to undertake the job. While young people in the schemes tended to work in cities which are more suitable for the nature of education they received. Many of the younger generation permanently migrated upon getting job outside or married, but some did commute to places of work.
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| Cutting across the palm oil fruit. The fully pollinated one have four layers. |
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| Group of UG students that conducted the survey |
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| During the survey in Tenggaroh students stayed with the settlers |
Facts about Palm Oil Cultivation Each Felda settlers own 10 acres of plantation land and a quarter acre of house plot Number of tree per acre: 55 Production for 10 acre: low season- 3 tons per month; high season- 8 tons per month (August to October) Fertilizer: 2 kg per tree and 4 times per year/ 4 tons per year for 10 acres Cost of fertilizer (FELDA): RM1100 per ton Labour cost for harvest: small tree RM20 per ton/ big tree-RM30 per ton Cost of transportation of fruit to factory- varies from RRM25-RM35 per ton depending on distance. |
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