Bandar Tun Abdul Razak Jengka began with a row of shophouses

MARAN: Each time Kamaazaman Razali, 66, passes by the row of run-down double-storey shop houses located two kilometres from Jalan Temerloh-Jerantut here, he would reminisce about the past.
"That used to be the original Bandar Pusat Jengka which comprised provision shops, a post office, and a bank.
"There was also a hospital nearby but it was relocated to a new building and the land was abandoned," he said while pointing to the original shops.
Kamaazaman is among the lucky few who had witnessed the transformation of Bandar Pusat Jengka until Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak renamed it as Bandar Tun Abdul Razak, on July 7, 2011, in honour of his father, the country's second Prime Minister who was the founder of Felda.
He said his life in Jengka began as early as 1969 when he was employed at Kilang Syarikat Jengka Sdn Bhd which was a Pahang state government company responsible for forest clearing to make way for oil palm plantations.

"At that time, the areas to be cleared were marked as schemes and it was through this clearing process that area was divided into Jengka 1 to Jengka 26," he said.
Kamaazaman said each time he and his friends wanted to go into town they would bring along spare clothes before taking a lift from the timber lorries to travel from their hostel to either Jerantut or Temerloh.
As soon as they arrived at Kuala Sentul here, they would take a quick bath at the forest department office toilet because by then their clothes would be covered by thick mud picked from the gravel roads.
"We would pass through thick jungles and it was usual for us to encounter wild animals and deer along the way. No one would dare to return home late as the timber trail would be dark and deserted.

"Nowadays things have changed ... we can hang out at the coffee shops till early in the morning during the festive season, there is non-stop traffic heading to the towns and it is easy for us to travel on motorcycles," he said.
He said the former Jengka town located about 55km from Maran town, could no longer cope with the growing population so a new town was built about two kilometres from the original town.

People passing by the main road will not be able to guess that behind the road there is a happening town centre filled with an array of retail shops, restaurants, textile stores, clinics, banks, fast food restaurants, pharmacies, jewellery shops and other business offices.
A Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) retiree Mohd Dahari Mat Piah, 58, who had been living in Bandar Tun Abdul Razak since 1992 said, most young people were disappointed to be posted here.
"When they first got here they were disheartened as the town seemed like a dead town.
"But soon after I take them for a tour of the town they brightened up and realised how wrong they had been and after living here some were reluctant to move from here," he said.
Mohd Dahari added that previously Jengka residents had to travel to town to pay their bills or settle other financial matters but nowadays people from Jerantut, Maran, and Temerloh were coming here to make use of the facilities available here.
Pensioner Ismaitim Ahmad, 61, is thankful that he had decided to buy a house here in the 80's because the value of houses had increased tremendously ever since.
He said demand for houses rocketed after Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) set up a branch campus there in 1993, and most of the houses were needed for student accommodation.
Ismaitim, better known as Pak Itam among residents here said Bandar Tun Abdul Razak also boasts of a nine-hole golf course and some settlers had also taken up the game.
"The latest development here is the RM92 million, 20,000 capacity Felda Tun Abdul Razak Stadium (STAR) which is the training ground for the Felda football team The Fighters," he said.
Meanwhile, Pahang Felda Affairs Committee chairman Datuk Abu Bakar Harun said Felda residents take pride in the stadium as the modern stadium had been certified by International Federation of Association Football (Fifa).
"STAR has a positive economic impact on the town as the stadium had not only made way for sports related businesses but also resulted in the growth of food outlets and motels to cater to visitors who come for the events at the stadium," he said. — Bernama