Author : Malicca Ratne

Summary : The study attempted to determine whether the Village Development Council (VDC) was utilized as a channel to communication by both the Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA) and settlers. It also tried to identify settlers' sources of information beside the VDC, and the effect of VDC's perceived credibility on settlers' communication behavior. Variations in settlers' communication behavior with regard to different topics were also explored. Information topics were categorized as FELDA's policies, scheme community affairs and agricultural practices. Data were gathered by interviewing 205 settlers and 40 VDC members from four selected settlement areas in West Malaysia. Analysis of data employed either the chi square, 't' test or analysis of variance test. Findings indicated that VDC was well utilized as an information channel from FELDA to settlers, but not from settlers to FELDA. In the latter case, other channels were preferred, namely FELDA sources for policy and agricultural topics, personal sources for community affairs. Non-users of VDC also utilized these two channels similarly.