Deputy Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities, Datuk Hamzah Zainuddin, said the approval was given by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak Monday after discussing the matter with him and Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Datuk Ahmad Maslan.
The settlers had appealed for the incentive since last year and on Monday, the prime minister called us to discuss the matter, he told reporters Tuesday.
He said that under the scheme, each settler would receive at least RM4,000 as most of them owned an average of four hectares of oil palm plantation each.
"When it is time for them to replant the oil palm, they will be given the incentive on the condition that they carry out the replanting according to the guidelines set by the government," he added.
He said the incentive scheme for the Felda settlers at Jengka 23 was expected to cost the government RM1.798 million.
"The management of Felda Jengka 23 will prepare the necessary documents and if it can be ready by tomorrow morning, we will hand over the cheque to Felda on Friday and the settlers will receive their money next week," he said.
Hamzah had earlier announced the incentive at a function with the Jengka 23 settlers which was also attended by Ahmad.
