STATE POLLS | Several rubber tappers in Sik have lamented the falling floor price of scrap rubber in the state.
Speaking to Malaysiakini, they bemoaned their earnings as half of the amount of scrap rubber they tap goes to rubber smallholders.
“Today, it is RM2.25. Every day the price of rubber decreases. It doesn’t increase, just drops,” said Chehasma Yusof, 63, when met by Malaysiakini in Kampung Betong, Sik on Sunday.
Meanwhile, rubber tapper Halimah Abdul Rahman, 52, expressed her struggles with keeping up with the rising cost of living, especially with an income that fluctuates daily.
“Imagine what we can do with RM2.25. 1kg of sugar is over RM3, and that’s not even bringing up the price of fish which can go up to RM18 for 1kg - how many kgs of scrap rubber will that take (to meet these prices)?
“We are pressured. During rainy seasons we are unable to tap (rubber). Sometimes we are only able to yield once a month,” she added.
Halimah added that rubber tappers only keep the amount of scrap rubber that they tap while the other half goes to rubber smallholders.
With the current price of RM2.25 per kg, they earn some RM1.15 for each kg of scrap rubber they produce.
Kedah contributes roughly 30 percent of the country’s rubber supply and most of the tappers live below the poverty line.
Rubber tapper Mohd Zahir Nayan, 57, told Malaysiakini that while he had expected his state representatives to help them, his only hope was in the federal government.
Sanusi: It’s out of my hands
Asked about the issue today, caretaker Kedah menteri besar said that the state government had no control over the prices of the commodity.
Instead, he said market prices of scrap rubber were determined by the Rubber Industry Smallholders Development Authority (Risda) and the Malaysian Rubber Board (LGM).
“The state government cannot increase the prices because scrap isn’t under the state. There is Risda and LGM.
“If you want it to be FOB (free on board), that should be decided by the LGM,” he told reporters today.
Free on Board refers to the point at which a buyer or seller assumes ownership and liability for goods.
Sanusi added that he has long championed cutting intermediaries in the process to allow for rubber tappers to earn full keep.
“The state government does not handle the prices but the market. This would mean changing the federal government and the prime minister (Anwar Ibrahim) to increase the prices,” he said. - Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.