ANNUAL REPORT 2019 ii. Repayment of FELDA’s oil palm replanting loan Participants voiced their concern over the repayment of a loan scheme for oil palm replanting offered by the government to oil palm planters or smallholders. Many of them, especially the older ones, were afraid they would be heavily indebted by taking up such a loan in view of their age and the decreasing price of palm oil. iii. The impact of mining and quarrying activities The participants from FELDA Tersang expressed their concern over gold mining activities carried out in Tersang, Raub. They feared it would harm both the environment and the local community. Participants from Baling had similar concerns regarding quarry activities taking place in Kupang. The quarrying had resulted in water erosion and landslides, raising safety concerns for the environmental and nearby residents. iv. The impact of declining commodities price The participants from the plantation sector, including rubber smallholders and FELDA settlers, were concerned over the declining prices of commodity particularly palm oil and rubber. This directly impacted their livelihood in the face of the rising cost of living. They called upon the government to undertake immediate action to mitigate this issue and to provide aid to the affected groups particularly the smallholders who are mostly the low-income earners. v. Welfare of fishermen The fishermen expressed their unhappiness over the government’s action to reduce their living allowance from RM300.00 to RM200.00. They also raised their concerns regarding the burden shouldered by fishermen whose fishing boats are licensed under categories C1 and C2, due to the increased fuel price. Although LKIM provided fuel subsidies to reduce their operation cost, it was disbursed regardless of the size or category of their fishing boats. The fishermen were hopeful that the government would regularly review the fuel subsidy rate according to the current economic situation in the country. CHAPTER 1 could obtain a clear explanation about the root cause of the issues faced by FELDA. 19