Felda taking money from the poor, alleges TMJ

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The Crown Prince of Johor, Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, better known as TMJ for the Malay acronym of his royal title, has accused the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) of taking money meant for the people to enrich contractors and high ranking company officials.

“Felda was established by the late Abdul Razak Hussein to eradicate poverty. However, today, money meant for the settlers are being spent unnecessarily to enrich certain contractors within Felda and also allowing a few people holding high post in Felda to make money.

“This is a clear case of taking money from the poor,” he said in a posting on the Johor Southern Tigers Facebook page.

The prince stressed that government money must be used for the good of the people and priority must be given to the people.

“I hope Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak can offer some advice to the parties responsible,” he added.

The prince said this when responding to questions on how he thinks the Johor team, which he oversees, ranks against their contender for the Malaysian Super League title, Felda United.

“I think it’s going to be tough and they have an advantage. How you expect us to compete with Najib’s team? Joking.... We are only a small club. Hence, I reckon Felda have a very good chance,” was his initial answer before switching gears to bombard the rival team.

“However, I am proud that I am not using the government’s money which belongs to the people to build a football club. I am not building a stadium using money meant for the settlers or money from contractors lobbying for jobs within Felda,” alleged the prince.

He reasoned that to him, even the police and armed forces should not be fielding teams as they are also funded by the government and will need to dip into public coffers to find funding.

“I am proud with the club I have built and is well known in South-East Asia. JDT is recognised globally, in the eyes of the world. JDT is funded by sponsors as well as investors who invests in the state of Johor,” he concluded. - Mkini