KUCHING: Sarawak will write to the Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad for some 49,483 rubber smallholders in the state in order to benefit from the federal government’s monsoon season aid under its new relaxed condition.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah said this here yesterday.
Earlier on he met officers of the Agriculture Department and Risda on the matter.
Four days ago, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng announced a grant of RM42 million for some 70,000 rubber smallholders from Sabah with holdings smaller than 2.5 hectares under the aid programme. Each smallholder will be paid RM600.
However, the grant is only for Sabah and not Sarawak.
“We welcome the decision made by the Ministry of Finance (MOF) to review the qualification for rubber smallholders to receive this aid.
“Finally, it understands the difficulties of those in the industry with holdings of more than 2.5 hectares but less than six hectares.
“The earlier condition for this aid was for smallholders with holdings of less than 2.5 hectares,” said Uggah who is also Modernisation of Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development Minister.
“Thus, we hope our smallholders who are qualified under the new condition will similarly enjoy this benefit,” he said.
Present at the meeting were from Agriculture Department director Dr Alvin Chai Lian Kuet and his officers Ronald Ripid, Aicher Joseph Toyat and Syahalrizal Sulaiman, while Emyza Aisah Atang represented the Rubber Industry Smallholders Development Authority (RISDA).
