Wee tells govt to look after the welfare of smallholders

PETALING JAYA: The Pakatan Harapan government is not looking after for the welfare of the country’s smallholders, said Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.

“No one can deny the drastic drop in commodity prices after May 9.

“Earlier, from January to April this year, Malaysian palm oil exports have risen dramatically by about 20%,” the MCA president said in his Facebook yesterday.

Dr Wee also noted that on Jan 3, 2017, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board recorded the crude palm oil price at RM3,252 per tonne.

On Dec 29, 2017, he said, the price dropped to about RM2,400 per tonne.

“Then on June 26 this year, a month after Pakatan took over the government, crude palm oil prices were traded at RM2,277 per tonne.

“It further tumbled to RM1,903 per tonne on Dec 26,” he said.

Dr Wee questioned what the Pakatan government was doing about the decline in commodity prices.

“Are Pakatan leaders aware of the plight of these smallholders, who can only garner a net profit of about RM280 a month because of the drop in palm oil prices?” he asked.

Dr Wee said many employers were expected to freeze hiring next year and this “disaster” would affect the livelihood of many smallholders.

He said this in relation to a report which quoted Malaysian Employers Federation executive director Datuk Shamsuddin Bardan, who said that many employers would freeze hiring in 2019.