The Federal Land Development Authority (Felda; . LKTP) is a Malaysian government agency that was founded to handle the resettlement of rural poor into newly developed areas (colonies, settlements or schemes) and to organize smallholder farms growing cash crops. Since the 1990s, it has not established new settlements, but has engaged in a diversified range of economic development and business activities. Felda has launched a number of private corporate entities. The largest of these, FGV Holdings Berhad, is considered to be the world's largest plantation operator, with of oil palm plantations, mainly across Peninsular Malaysia, but also including other parts of Malaysia and the world. History Felda was formed on 1 July 1956 when the Land Development Act came into force. The first Felda colony was opened at Lurah Bilut, near Bentong in western Pahang in 1958, comprising 2946.88ha of land and focused on rubber. In the 1960s and 1970s, government policy began to emphasize crop diversification, in an effort to avoid being affected if the world price of rubber were to drop precipitously. In 1961, Felda's first oil palm settlement opened, with of land. Oil palm gradually became the main cash crop within Felda colonies, and by 2000, (approximately 76%) of the land under Felda's programs are devoted to oil palms. More than 112,000 settlers were resettled in Felda colonies throughout Malaysia between 1958 and 1990. No new colonies were established since 1990; acceptance of new settlers or colonists also ceased that year. The latest colony to be developed was Sahabat II in Lahad Datu, eastern Sabah. The Malaysian government converted Felda into a statutory body in 1996, granting it financial autonomy. Felda focuses mainly on West Malaysia (Peninsular Malaysia); other government agencies are responsible for land development in the states of Sabah and Sarawak, which form East Malaysia. Scheme management Settlers were drawn from rural Malay poor. They were to be aged between 21 and 50 years, married, and physically fit. Priority was given to those who did not own any land to farm. New settlers were assigned to a particular settlement, and were given , or of land to cultivate usually either rubber or oil palms. All settlers were required to reside at the settlement itself, and were allotted in a planned village, where their home — already built by Felda — was located. Although basic infrastructure, such as water supply and electricity, used to be lacking,