Income of poor farmers and fishermen improving, says MP

By VANES DEVINDRAN
vanes@thestar.com.my

ASSISTANCE rendered to poor farmers and fishermen in the Santubong area in terms of raw materials and equipment are producing positive returns, says Deputy Parliament Speaker Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.
He revealed that recently a particular group of recipients gained a total of RM15,000, triple the amount of what had been invested in the materials and equipment.
“The first time we did this (providing assistance) was four years ago and I did an evaluation on the income of the recipients before and after the assistance. There was an increase,” he told reporters after giving out assistance to fishermen and farmers in the Santubong consitituency in Kuching yesterday.
Junaidi, who is Santubong MP, also said there had been no reports so far on recipients selling the raw materials or equipment given to them.
“They are all making use of the items and so this is working towards a positive direction,” he said.
He said he worked with the Fishermen and Farmers Associations in his constituency to keep tabs on the development after giving out the assistance.
Having said that, Junaidi urge the villagers to work in a more coordinated manner so that it would be easier and much more efficient when it comes to finding customers for their products.
He said proper delegation was the key to making a business thrive in a village that was dabbling with the same product.
“They must work as a team. Not all should plant or fish. You need to have someone doing the fishing and farming, and also someone to coordinate and focus on marketing. If all were to do one job, then who’s going to focus on marketing or packaging?” he said.
He said a village must also diversify their farming according to market demand and avoid focusing on one kind of crop or fruit tree alone.
He advised the people to seek advice from agencies like the Agriculture Department and also the Federal Agriculture and Marketing Authority.
Yesterday’s ceremony had 183 recipients and the total cost of the raw materials and equipment supplied namely fertilisers, oven, engine pump, fishing net and bush cutter, came to around RM100,000.
Junaidi said with the rising cost of materials these days, his side would put in a request for additional funding for next year.