Provide RM200 Subsidy and Develop Hill Paddy Farming – Dr. Jeffrey

KOTA KINABALU - “Giving credit where it is due, the RM70 million hill paddy subsidy while welcomed is still insufficient and the PM need to build on this first initial move to help farmers in rural Sabah and Sarawak” said Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan, STAR Sabah Chief, commenting on the subsidy for hilly paddy farmers involving 64,000 hectares in Sabah and Sarawak.

The hill paddy subsidy needs to be taken from the perspective of the RM200 monthly allowance and now increased to RM300 and RM250 per month for fishermen in Zone A and Zone B and C respectively in Budget 2015.   In addition, Budget 2015 created another new group of 44,000 coastal fishermen to be given a monthly allowance of RM200.

The federal government should treat the hill paddy farmers on equal footing with the coastal fishermen and should be given a RM200 per month grant.

 “Why are the rural hill paddy farmers being treated as second-class Malaysians? Are they because they are from Sabah and Sarawak? Are they because they are not Umno members?” queried Dr. Jeffrey.

At the same time, the government has poured billions of ringgit and in-depth research and assistance into lowland paddy cultivation in Malaysia particularly in Malaya.

Similarly, the government should accord the same effort and money to help the hill paddy farmers in Sabah and Sarawak.

For a start, the federal government should provide an immediate grant of RM100 million each to the Sabah and Sarawak Agriculture Departments for the purpose of research and development of hill paddy in both States.

To complement the effort of these Departments, the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI), which has a strong paddy crop cultivation section, should provide research and development expertise and assistance to them.   It is believed that the Mardi paddy section had several senior personnel who are very interested in research and development of hill paddy and they can be roped in to help.

Then, equivalent subsidies should be given to hill paddy farmers similar to that given for lowland or wetland paddy farmers.   Given their substantial acreage, hill paddy output could be tripled or quadrupled with more effort from the federal government rather than left to fend for themselves.

The end result, it will be more economically uplifting for the rural farmers and their increased output will provide additional food security for Malaysia given hill paddy is a better staple compared to wetland paddy.

The PM need to show to Sabahans and Sarawakians especially hilly paddy farmers that they are equal Malaysians and not treated as “lain-lain” Malaysians and unequally treated by the federal government.  After all, he is still the PM partly due to the support of the rural farmers in Sabah and Sarawak.