DALAT: Members of the Dalat District Smallholders Sago Planters Association (DSSPA) support the Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate for Mukah, Dato Hanifah Hajar Taib.
According to its Chairman, Benedict Pon Akie, they hope she will win with a handsome majority in the 14th General Election (GE14).
He added that they believed she had the ability and capacity to solve most of their problems.
The association has about 1,000 members and among the problems they face pertain to the land, the sago planting subsidy and the need to form the Sarawak Sago Board which is the best platform to look into the plight of the smallholders.
“Other problems are the instability of the prices of the raw materials at the farms. We also want to prevent oil palm plantations from building their drains near to our sago farms,” he added.
“The sago planters are also in need of assistance like welfare related financial assistance and e-Petrol,” disclosed Pon.
The association is now intensifying its effort to recruit new members in order to strengthen it.
It is recruiting members from villages in the Dalat District proper and those located along the Oya River and the Igan River.
According to Pon, besides the Melanaus, the Ibans and Chinese in Dalat are also planting sago.
