Review on Issues and Problems of Transferring Felda Land Ownership

Abstract

Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA) in Malaysia has been a successful land development agency for the past fifty-eight years. FELDA was established on 1 July 1956, it is the main government instrument in reducing rural poverty and rewarding of land ownership on an economic scale. Land ownership under FELDA is unique and different from usual because FELDA lands are subject to the Land Act (Group Settlement Area) 1960 and other common practice of land ownership are subject to the National Land Code 1965 (NLC). Now, most of the settler had received their land title after completing their payment to the FELDA. However, most of the first generation FELDA is passing away by the day due to old age. This situation has lead to the issue in the process of transferring FELDA land ownership to the next generation. Therefore, the objective of this article is to review the issues in the transfer of FELDA land ownership to the rightful heirs based on the previous studies and identify the mechanism for distribution of inheritance in FELDA land that has been discussed. Data in this article are obtained through observation of literature review based on previous studies. Based on the review of previous studies, it is found that there are three main problems to overcome with regards to this subject namely heir, legal and administration issues. The findings of this article showed that the most of the settlers had chosen to appoint administrators as FELDA land distribution mechanism than giving ownership directly to any of the heirs agreed to. Thus, the future research is needed in order to find a better solution for the problems of transferring FELDA land ownership including the second and third generation. A new model is needed to secure FELDA land ownership and to ensure the interest of second generation FELDA will be secured.