Audit report: TKPM programme in Johor not up to the mark

JOHOR BARU: The Permanent Food Production Park (TKPM) programme, overseen by the State Veterinary Services Department, has not been satisfactory due to poor implementation and the absence of long-term planning, according to the Auditor-General's Report Series 2, released today.
It said this had resulted in the objectives of the programme not being achieved.
Besides that, the income growth of the programme participants could not be ascertained as the department did not keep a record of the farmers' output when the programme targeted a monthly income of RM3,000 for each participant.
The report said 22 plots of land for livestock rearing in the TKPM Muar, Segamat and Ledang were idle while there were those that were not managed well.
Four other areas at the TKPM Balai Badang, Segamat and another at the TKPM Teluk Rimba, Ledang had been encroached upon and planted with oil palm and rubber trees as well as used for rearing cattle and buffaloes without approval.
The report said 35 TKPM programme participants in the districts of Muar, Segamat and Ledang had breached the conditions of the agreement by planting more than five oil palm trees and cash crops in the TKPM area.
Also discovered was overlapping in the size of livestock rearing areas in TKPM Tebing Tinggi, Segamat and TKPM Kesang Tasek, Ledang after the lands were surveyed by a licensed surveyor appointed by the department.
"Up to December, 2013, 35 TKPM had been developed involving 3,272.04 hectares of land and 163 participants.
"In 2012, 35 participants or 28.5 per cent managed to increase the number of livestock reared. The number of participants increased to 52 or 35.1 per cent last year," the report said.
To improve the TKPM programme, the audit report suggested that a long-term plan be drawn up which should, among others, set specific livestock output targets, size of TKPM land to be developed, and targeted number of participants and livestock birth rates, as well as infrastructure development and facility upgrading. – Bernama