PUTATAN: Hill padi farmers who plant on untitled lands must also be eligible to receive the subsidy allocated by the Federal Government in the just tabled national budget 2015, United Pasokmomogun KadazanDusun Murut Organization (UPKO) acting president Datuk Wilfred Madius Tangau said.
According to the Tuaran member of parliament, this is because most of the farmers are planting hill padi on untitled lands which are used to plant oil palm and rubber trees.
Speaking to reporters after officiating the UPKO Penampang, Putatan, Kota Kinabalu and Sepanggar divisions’ joint convention here yesterday, Tangau, who was asked to comment on the allocation for Sabah in the national 2015 budget, said that the RM70 million subsidy allocated to Sabah and Sarawak for hill padi farmers is welcomed.
“The subsidy will benefit about 76,000 hectares of land planted with hill rice in Sabah. The question here is, will the subsidy only be for hill rice planted on titled lands? We, the Sabahan MPs, will inform the government that titled lands are usually used to plant oil palm or rubber.
“What is left are parcels of untitled land which are owned by the families and are not part of a forest reserve. So we want the government to assure that these families, who are planting hill rice, will be eligible to receive the subsidy because if the productivity of hill rice increases, it will reduce their burden and more importantly it will reduce our rice import,” he said.
Touching on the RM27 billion Pan Borneo highway project, Madius said that they have yet to be given detailed briefing as to how this will be implemented in Sabah but in Sarawak he was made to understand that this will be done through Public Private Funding Initiative.
This is a huge commitment by the government, he said, and when asked if the Pan Borneo highway announced by Prime Minister Datuk Najib Razak was not an ongoing project, Madius replied: “MPs from Sabah have requested for the federal government to do a new alignment for Pan Borneo (highway) which will be an alternative route should the toll system be implemented in Sabah.
“I do not have any further details as to where this (the highway) will be built but that is our stand … that a new alignment be made in areas where new roads can be constructed,” he said.
When it was pointed to him that there was no allocation for the alternative road to Ranau and the coastal road to Kudat, Madius replied: “That is a setback for us, but I was informed that the Telipok, Kiulu, Randagong road has been given to the Rural and Regional Development Ministry, it is no longer under the Works Ministry.
“We hope that the allocation for the road, which will be an alternative road from the west coast to Ranau, is part of the RM900 million allocated for rural roads in Sabah but we will need to push for it,” he said, adding that there was no news about the coastal road to Kudat.
Madius also welcomed the RM600 million allocated to strengthen the security in Sabah as it reflects the government’s seriousness in addressing the issue of the state’s security especially in the east coast.