TRANS PERAK AREA DEV

closed

The proposed project would provide for development of 14,800 ha of new land for rice and tree crops, and rehabilitation of 3,700 ha of existing rice land in Perak State, on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It would also include roads, housing, community facilities, palm oil and cocoa mills, and supporting services for agriculture and community development for about 6,900 settler families, presently landless or cultivating uneconomic-sized holdings in Perak and other states. The project focuses on one of the major identifiable groups of rural poor, the rice smallholders, and addresses two of the main factors responsible for their poverty, the small size of holdings and the low productivity of rice land. All of the direct benefits to be derived from the project would accrue to the settler families, about 35,000 people, whose present income is about US$230 per capita, well below the 1981 absolute poverty level income of US$320. With the project, average incomes of settler families are expected to reach US$560 per capita. Additional benefits would accrue to the settlers through improved housing and community facilities.