Masiung
TONGOD (Sept 24): Kuamut assemblyman Datuk Masiung Banah called on the state and federal governments to do something about the low price of scrap rubber.
He said that the drop in the value of the commodity was the lowest in the country’s history over the past 20 years.
“The price of scrap rubber now remains at the floor price of RM2.50 per kilogram since 2016 and this is about the same as a kilogram of salt,” he said, adding that the current floor price of RM2.50 per kilogram set by the Plantation Industry and Commodities Ministry has not been reviewed for the past seven years.
“It is seen as discrimination against rubber smallholders as the price of chemicals used in the planting of the commodity such as herbicides, fertilizers and formic acid has increased by almost 100 percent.
“Worse still, the rubber tappers who earn a small income are burdened by the rising cost of living,” he said in a statement on Saturday.
To this end, Masiung urged the state and federal governments when preparing their budget 2023, to raise the price of scrap rubber to RM3.50 a kilogram as well as extend the Rainy Season Assistance (BMT) to the rubber smallholders and tappers.
According to him, the government needs to be concerned about the decline in the price of the commodity because rubber is the country’s sixth largest export contributor.
Masiung warned that if the two governments do not look at this issue in the preparation of the 2023 Budget, the rubber planters will definitely feel neglected and opined that the sentiment could influence the political scene ahead of the 15th general election.
The chairman of the Sabah Housing and Urban Development Board (LPPB) claimed that due to the drop in the price of scrap rubber, many rubber smallholders have now switched to other commodities.
“If this issue continues, the country’s rubber export production will decline and this will affect the country as the main producer of natural rubber in the world. In order to prevent more rubber smallholders from switching to other fields, the government needs to implement a new formula to raise the floor price of the commodity,” he added.
Masiung also wants related agencies such as the Rubber Industry Smallholder Development Authority (RISDA) and the Sabah Rubber Industry Board (LIGS) to take responsibility for the fall in the commodity price.