December 11, 2014

Malaysia's 'Beef Valley' grows tall grass than cattle, news group claims

Malaysia's so-called Beef Valley project, which aimed to raise a total of 60,000 head of cattle and cut down the country's beef imports, is an utter failure, the Malaysian Insider (MI) news portal said, claiming it has only produced "10 to 20 cows" in its 2,000-hectare farm in Negeri Sembilan.

"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," MI said in an exclusive report.

"The farm… has only some 10 to 20 cows, a handful of staff and a suit hanging over its management for failing to repay a MYR250 million (US$72 million) government loan," it added.

Only a year after the farm opened in 2008, Malaysia's Accountant General's Department froze NFC's funds for missing its target of 8,000 head by 2010, leading to the resignation of a minister involved in the project.  Malaysia's Anti-corruption Commission (MACC) later cleared the minister of any wrongdoing.