CENTRE OF DISPUTE: Sheets of rubber at one of the dealers’ shops.
KAPIT: Rubber dealers here yesterday chided Land Development Minister Tan Sri Dr James Masing for claiming that they were shortchanging rubber farmers.
One of the dealers, ex-Temenggong Sng Chee Eng, who represented the firm Joo Guan, described the claims as baseless.
He said if indeed this price manipulation had happened, Masing should have reported the unscrupulous dealer or dealers to the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Co-operative (MDTCC).
“Don’t be trigger happy…like the old saying of using a bamboo to hit everyone in the perahu (boat). This is most unfair.
“This is a totally baseless allegation.
Before making public statements on issues of public interest, a responsible Minister should investigate the matter first. False statements hurt and would cast a bad light on the dealers. In Kapit, there are five rubber dealers,” Sng told a press conference here.
In the report `Dealers shortchanging rubber farmers’ which was published by The Borneo Post on June 21, Masing urged rubber dealers to stop manipulating the prices of the commodity as it would hurt the farmers.
Masing revealed that some “unscrupulous dealers” had been manipulating the prices of rubber, particularly in Kapit, just before the Gawai celebration.
“They (rubber dealers) moved the price up or down at their fancy.
When the farmers came down to sell their rubber hoping to get some extra money for Gawai, the dealers told them that the price had gone down to RM7 per kg. But it shot up to RM9 per kg after the celebration. Now it’s over RM 10,” Masing was quoted.
At the press conference, Sng revealed the prices of rubber before and after the Gawai celebration. From May 22 to 23, it was RM9.50 per kg, RM9.30 (May 24), RM9.50 (May 25), RM 9.60 (May 26), RM9.70 (May 27-28), RM9.80 (May 29), RM9.90 (May 30), RM10 (June 1). From
June 2 till yesterday, the price remained at RM10.20 per kg.
“Do you think rubber farmers are an ignorant lot? Mind you, gone are the days when they would stick to one dealer to sell their products. When they come to town, the first thing they (farmers) do is go around to all the dealers to ask about the price. They then only sell to the highest bidder.
“Two of the rubber dealers even provided
free formic acid (an acid used to harden rubber sheets) to those who sell 70kg or above as an incentive to encourage them to work harder,” Sng said.
He added that MDTCC officers were always on the move here to ensure that retailers comply with prices of all goods under their purview, including that of rubber.
“The prices of rubber products may be high but we, the rubber dealers, earn only marginal profit…about 20 to 30 sen per kg,” Sng claimed.