Najib Ups Battle for Malaysian Farmer Votes With Handouts
- Settlers to get cash, debt relief, palm oil replanting grants
- Felda seeking to fix leadership strife, graft probes at unit
A worker loads palm fruit onto the back of a truck at a palm oil plantation in Malaysia.
Photographer: Sanjit Das/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak raised the stakes in his efforts to secure the votes of palm oil farmers, announcing hundreds of millions of dollars in aid ahead of an election that could come within months.
Farmers who come under the auspices of the Federal Land Development Authority, or Felda, will get cash handouts from the end of August, and have some debts erased, Najib said in a speech on Sunday. The package, which includes grants for replanting, totals about 1.6 billion ringgit ($373 million).