KUCHING: Member of Parliament Hulu Rajang Datuk Wilson Ugak Kumbong propose that a special committee be established soon to evaluate and monitor commodity prices in the market.
According to him, agriculture is something very synonymous with the rural communities and most of the people in the Hulu Rajang parliamentary constituency are farmers.
He mentioned lately farmers have been hit by the drop in price of oil palm commodities at the international market.
“As a result of the decline in palm oil commodity prices, it affects many farmers to benefit from their crops.
“This is what many people have to look for other sources of income to support their families,” he said during in his debate speech at the 14th Parliamentary Sitting at the Dewan Rakyat in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
Ugak added, recently the Primary Industries Minister suggested that farmers plant bamboo as an alternative source.
“The minister’s proposal seems to imply that there is no effort from the government to help address the problem of oil palm commodity.
“I want to ask the minister, how much is the price of bamboo for a ton, how much time is needed to get bamboo and how much to sent? How to send it from the cultivation area to the producer?” he asked.
In the meantime, he hoped that Primary Industry Ministries Teresa Kok Suh Sim would provide the answers to all farmers nationwide.
“I propose that a special committee be established immediately to ensure that the valuation and monitoring of commodity prices in the market are taken seriously.
“It should be handled immediately before the minister suggest another crop as an alternative,” he said.
