13/02/2012 (Bernama) - The Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) has added RM200 million to its loan facility for settlers to build and repair their houses.

Felda chairman Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad said the settlers were entitled to borrow up to RM40,000 depending on the extent of restoration, and 5,000 of the 10,000 applications have already been processed.

"This interest-free loan is among the facilities that we provide to enable the settlers to live in a comfortable home.

"Felda can fork out this sizeable amount because it does not have any cash flow problem and the settlers will settle the repayments according to the time frame we set," he said when met at the Replanting Incentive Scheme presentation at the Kerteh 2 training centre here today. Also present was Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) Terengganu head Azhar Ahmad.

Mohd Isa said Felda would call for the tender to construct more than 4,000 units of houses for second-generation Felda settlers throughout the country.

He said the house ownership programme for Felda's next generation was aimed at sustaining their participation in further developing the community's economy.

According to him, Felda had drawn up two programmes for the purpose.

"Firstly, building homes and selling them to the second generation - the unit price depends on location and prevailing market price. But we will ensure that it is reasonable."

He said the housing project was already in progress at Felda Tenang near Kota Tinggi, Johor, while a few similar projects would follow suit.

"The second step is to find idle land. Once we find it and obtain approval from the state government, we'll proceed with the construction," he added.