Uggah says increasing farmers’ income his top priority
Uggah speaking to the press.
He said he had been briefed by the chief minister that his ministry would be one of the main catalysts to transform the rural areas.
“We are now at the crossroads and it’s very important for us to move forward modernisation of agriculture. So my top priority is to increase our farmers income to not less than RM4,000 per month by 2020 when our country attain developed status.
“If we get less than that then they would be in poverty line, then the gap between the rich and the poor would widen and then, it would become a fertile area for social problems,” Uggah told the media after he took his oath of office at the DUN complex here yesterday.
Currently, he disclosed that many pepper farmers already earned about RM10,000 per month, oil palm smallholders getting about RM5,000 per month but both rubber tappers and paddy farmer were still getting less than RM1,500 per month.
“As a deputy chief minister, I have been tasked to see that the chief minister’s rural transformation programme, especially the agenda which we set during last state election, would be carried out. That’s going to be my duty and I will try my best to assist him in that area,” he stressed.
Uggah, who was a former Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities, also disclosed that he had resigned from his federal cabinet post on May 9, but would remain as Betong MP.
He also stressed that he would work on areas where agriculture produce could be exported to international market so that local famers could have better livelihood.
“Linking the products to the international market, beyond Malaysia, would be one of my tasks ahead,” he said.
Uggah also stressed that while it was important for sarawak to attain self-sufficiency in rice production, the state government must also balance it up with other crops that could yield more revenue for its farmers.
“We have about two million hectares of NCR (Native Customary Rights) land and we have another 500,000 hectares which we could develop for crops that could yield better income.”
He added that to increase the yield for paddy, he would want to get further briefings from his officers on how to further develop the crop by moving towards greater modernisation and mechanisation.
Meanwhile, Uggah who possessed an economics degree from Universiti Malaya in 1977, thanked the chief minister for his confidence in him.
Mukah Pages sharing local news with BorneoPost Online | Borneo , Malaysia, Sarawak Daily News http://ift.tt/1Yr45tL
Post a Comment