Umno veterans have proposed that Malay reserve lands that have been taken for development be replaced with lands that have commercial value.

The Malaysian Council of Former Elected Representative (Mubarak), which comprises former Umno MPs, said it was only appropriate that land is replaced in developed centres instead of the outskirts.

"The acquired land need not be replaced with land along the hillside or in the outskirts. Instead, it should be replaced with land in more developed areas," Mubarak president Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman ( left ) is quoted as saying on Umno Online.

As such, Abdul Aziz proposed that vacant land along the North-South Expressway (Plus) be gazetted as Malay reserve land.

This, he said, can balance out the racial divide among the urban and rural population.

The issue of Malay reserve land came into the spotlight after right-wing group Perkasa organised a forum on the issue last week.

Malay reserve land has dwindled as those plots acquired by the government were never replaced by equal sized land as required by the law.

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