After Felda, PAS exposes '22 frauds' in Felcra

PAS' land and regional development territory bureau has disclosed 22 documents detailing alleged fraudulent acts involving the Federal Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority (Felcra).

Describing the situation in Felcra as “more critical than Felda”, bureau chief Mazlan Aliman alleged that Barisan Nasional leaders were abusing their powers and rapidly siphoning out funds belonging to Felcra.

According to him, the 22 cases of alleged fraud were happening simultaneously in Felcra and some 90,000 settlers nationwide were oppressed and exploited.

Among the cases were the alleged swindling of funds in the settlers' cooperative (Koperasi Peserta-perserta Felcra Bhd), a RM14.8 million contract on the Sarawak Felcra Jemoreng settlement, RM17 million purchase of bonds without the approval of the settlers and the forging of documents for general agricultural works in Sabah.

“We cannot divulge all that we know about these frauds now, but we will call the media at a later date to give you each a full copy of the 22 cases,” Mazlan said.

'Wait until after Hari Raya...'

He said the disclosure today was a response to Felcra chairman Tajuddin Abdul Rahman who dared PAS to disclose abuses and acts of swindling in Felcra.

"Tajuddin and his cronies have been abusing their authority... they have been swindling Felcra settlers without consideration of the settlers' burden. He (Tajuddin) thinks we are not brave enough to expose these documents because he thinks we don’t have the facts.

“Today we are only showing you 22 cases of fraud... wait until after Hari Raya, we’ll disclose more... much more,” he said, urging the government to set up a royal commission to investigate Felcra.

“There is a need to set up a royal commission immediately because MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission) has failed to respond to the discloses made by Felcra settlers.

“MACC should have set up a special task force at the onset to investigate the abuse of money and power in Felcra. Settlers have been complaining for a long time,” said Mazlan.

Mazlan said the alleged abuses in Felcra arose because the agency was controlled by politicians with no knowledge or experience in managing finances justly.

“This swindling and cheating are not going to stop because Felcra administrators are used to using the settlers to rake in profits for their cronies.

“We have surrendered these important documents to MACC but to date no action has been taken. MACC has not informed us as to the status of their investigations,” he said.

Destroyed by Umno politicians

Established in 1966, Felcra’s main objective is to develop the rural sector by helping Malay community to participate in national economic activities, thus improving their standard of living.

It was turned into a government-owned company Felcra Berhad in 1997.

However in recent years, discontentment among settlers had been rife with complaints of exploitation and abuse.

According to Mazlan, Umno leaders were the main reason for the “destruction” of Felda and Felcra to the point that it had begun to affect the settlers.

“We have followed the procedures in drawing attention to financial abuses in Felda and Felcra but no changes have been initiated. Our final recourse is the courts. So we hired a lawyer to sue Felda and Felcra in a bid to seek justice for the settlers in Felda and Felcra,” he said.

courtesy of FMT