KUCHING: Recently, the state is experiencing dry weather with polluted haze from the neighbouring country. Hence, local vegetable production is affecting the farmers, the sellers and the consumers, as well as the price and quality. New Sarawak Tribune took the intitiative to interview some of the hawkers at Stutong Wet Market yesterday. Simon Chai, 25, a vegetable seller at the market, said his sales have dropped drastically since the last two weeks due to soaring prices of vegetables.
“For example, the dealers’ price for Sengkuang now has increased to RM2.50 per kilogramme from RM2.20 per kilogramme two weeks ago. So how much per kilogramme do you expect me to sell? “The price for cucumber has also increased.
Now they are giving us RM6 per kilogramme so we have no choice but to sell it to customers for RM8 per kilogramme,” he said. Chai and other vegetable sellers are hoping that the dry spell will end soon so that their business can return to normal. Lee Siaw Liung, 55, another vegetable seller, said the persistent dry weather is affecting the production of vegetables. “This dry weather is the cause of vegetable shortage in the market and their high prices. As the weather is hot and dry, the vegetables are difficult to grow. Like the cucumber, bitter gourd and others, they just cannot grow well without adequate water. “The prices of vegetables have gone up steadily.
Some of them have shot up from RM5 two weeks ago to RM9 now,” he lamented. Throughout this period of dry weather, Liung said his daily sales have gone down, thus affecting his income. “Sales are slow compared to previous weeks. Some customers have refrained from buying their favourite vegetables because of the high prices. You know, housewives normally have their own budget for food,” he said.
Meanwhile, Jacquline Kong, 53, also expressed the same sentiments on the persistent dry weather. “The price increase from the wholesaler is definitely due to the dry weather. Not only has the price increased, many varieties of vegetables now do not look as healthy as during the normal days. “Take for example, the long beans are not in good shape, the cucumber looks retarded, tomatoes are not as big as they should be and the spinnach looks dry and crumbled,” she said.
