20 cows, 4 workers and abandoned buildings left at National Feedlot Centre

The management of the farm at the National Feedlot Centre (NFC) in Gemas is at the centre of a suit after failure to repay a RM250 million government loan. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Nazir Sufari, December 8, 2014.

Far from its ambitious plan to be Malaysia's premier beef exporter, the farm at the National Feedlot Centre (NFC) is today a picture of desolation with cows wandering amid overgrown grass and dilapidated buildings.

Two years after PKR lawmaker and whistleblower Rafizi Ramli exposed the alleged abuse of federal funds, the 2,000ha farm in Gemas, Negri Sembilan, has only some 10 to 20 cows, a handful of staff and a suit hanging over its management for failing to repay a RM250 million government loan.

The Malaysian Insider on a survey to the farm last week found cows roaming freely while the abattoir buildings are showing cracks and signs of decay.

Previously, the cattle were placed in barns but they were set loose after the scandal broke.

"After the scandal, there was no food, so the cows were allowed to graze around the farm," one of four employees left at the farm said during the visit.

Declining to be named, the four said their task was to guard the property and check on the cows with two employees on every shift to patrol the area.

"If any of the cattle becomes sick or dies, we just take pictures," one of them said.

They also have to ensure that no one breaks into the farm as furniture, air-conditioning units and other office equipThe 2,000ha farm in Gemas, Negri Sembilan, has only some 10 to 20 cows and many of its buildings are in a state of disrepair. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Nazir Sufari, December 8, 2014.ment are still in some of the buildings. Some electric cables were stolen from the farm last year, they said.

They said the fate of the farm would only be known next year, whether it would be handed over to the Negri Sembilan government or tendered to private companies.

Already, some 500ha of the land have been planted with oil palm.

This sorry state is a far cry from the fanfare surrounding the enterprise, which was part of a high-impact project under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP) aimed at turning Gemas into Malaysia’s "Beef Valley" and cut down foreign beef imports.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin on his tour to the farm run by the National Feedlot Corporation (NFCorp) in June 2011 praised the facility, saying that it would not only meet local demand for beef, but would also penetrate overseas markets.

"The NFC project will make Malaysia a beef exporter. We expect there would not be any problems with supply although Malaysia's population is increasing at an average of 5% annually.

"The beef will be marketed by big hypermarkets like Tesco and Giant as well as at pasar tani run by Fama," Muhyiddin had said then, referring to the Federal Agricultural Marketing Agency.

NFC hit the headlines after it was cited in the Auditor-General’s Report for failing to meet its target of breeding 8,000 head of cattle by 2010. It was to have produced 60,000 cattle by 2015.

The farm continued to be in the limelight after its managing entity, NFCorp, was linked to Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, who was the women, family and community development minister at that time.

The Wanita Umno head's husband, Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Salleh Ismail, chaired the NFCorp's board of directors, which included the couple's children.

NFCorp is a private entity while the farm or NFC is owned by the Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Ministry.

ThOnly four workers are left to guard the National Feedlot Centre in Gemas. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Nazir Sufari, December 8, 2014.e farm began operations in 2008 but by the following year, NFCorp's funds were frozen and held by the Accountant-General's Department after it was found to have failed its targets.

The opposition's Rafizi then alleged that FCorp's misuse of a RM250 million federal loan in purchases of high-end properties.

For this, Salleh was charged with criminal breach of trust involving RM49.7 million over the purchase of two condominium units. He has pleaded not guilty and trial is pending. He also faces two other charges under the Companies Act.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who is also the finance minister, told Parliament in its recent sitting that NFCorp had failed to settle this year's loan repayment which was due last January.

Only RM34.98 million has been paid so far in two instalments in 2012 and 2013.

Rafizi, who said the loan was taken in 2006, has estimated that the interest should have amounted to about RM50 million by now.

These huge sums of money are beyond the wildest dreams of the staff holding menial jobs guarding the farm and monitoring the cows.

When asked why they were still working there, one smiled and said: "What to do, my child and wife need to eat, so we have to do it".

- TMI