Salcra to do more for small farmers

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OVER 35 YEARS: Taib admiring the cover of a book called ‘Raising Land’ that was launched during Salcra’s 35th year anniversary dinner on Saturday. The book chronicles the success of Salcra in developing oil palm estates to help eradicate poverty. Flanking Taib are Jabu and Masing (right). — Photo by Muhammad Rais Sanusi

The state govt agency will be taking over small-scale agriculture projects from Agriculture Dept

KUCHING: Sarawak Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority (Salcra) has been tasked to take over most of the government’s small agriculture projects. It is also entrusted to develop land development modules targeting small land owners.

Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud said he believed Salcra could handle these tasks, which used to be handled by the Agriculture Department.

He said some of these tasks could not be implemented previously due to lack of focus by the department.

“The Rural Development Ministry must establish a taskforce to determine what Salcra can do and the quantum of small agriculture projects to be given to them. The government had been launching these projects for many years, but they were still unable to lift the people from the realm of poverty,” he said at Salcra’s 35th year anniversary dinner cum Hari Raya gathering at Borneo Convention Cenrtre Kuching (BCCK) here on Saturday.

The Chief Minister said land was not a big problem in the state.

“The main predicament is getting the people to develop land in a more organised scheme. If we can transform the success of Salcra, which managed to help its participants to earn an average of RM1,400 per month, we will be able to develop our land more productively.

“This will enable at least half of the landowners to be lifted from the poverty line if they participated in schemes akin to the one run by Salcra today.”

Also present were Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Alfred Jabu Numpang, who is also Salcra chairman, Salcra general manager Datu Vasco Sabat Singkang, and Land Development Minister Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing.

Taib told the 1,000-plus guests, including Salcra Plantation Development Committee Members (AJPLS), that it was important for Salcra to train the rural agriculture communities to fully reap the potential of their land.

Besides developing a research training programme, Salcra could also provide organisational and management support to those who are new to modern agriculture practices. Taib also advised Salcra to diversify and further develop its management system and adopt different modules to help landowners venture beyond oil palm planting, such as investing in rubber estates.

He noted Salcra had, over the years, earned the respect of many people for their success in making small plots of land profitable. A good example of this is the annual average dividends paid to participants, which has reached more than RM100 million.

The organisation also enjoyed the strong confidence of financial institutions, he pointed out.