The Federal Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority (Felcra Bhd) is looking to make big profits from its RM687 million Menara Felcra project.
The same, however, cannot be said for the rural folks participating in Felcra programmes.
Activist and Amanah land and rural issues bureau chief, Mazlan Aliman, said this was because many Felcra members earned less than RM1,000 a month.
"When Tajuddin Abdul Rahman was Felcra chairperson (2008-2012) the target was (for participants) to earn RM1,000 a month.
"One of the ways was through cattle farming, but it all failed.
"With the fall in rubber prices... it's far from the (RM1,000) target)," Mazlan told Malaysiakini.
He raised this matter while commenting on the Menara Felcra scandal.
Malaysiakini had reported on Tuesday that Felcra is now financing the RM687 million mixed development, which includes residential units and a mall, after developer WZR group allegedly failed to secure funding.
Felcra was originally supposed to get a free new headquarters in exchange for letting WZR construct the project on Felcra's prime land in the heart of Kuala Lumpur.
Mazlan said it would have been cheaper if Felcra just upgraded its existing headquarters, and focus instead on uplifting the livelihoods of members.He also called on the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to probe the Menara Felcra project to see if WZR had any links to politicians in the government-linked company.
Meanwhile, Felcra chairperson Bung Mokhtar Radin admitted that many participants do indeed earn less than RM1,000 a month.
"(But this is because) many members own less than one hectare of land (for them to develop)," Bung said.
He added that Felcra was working hard to improve the earnings of participants by varying the types of short season crops they can grow, to maximise earnings.- Mkini
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