Farmers and fishermen aid cut not true, says Salahuddin

JOHOR BARU: Allegations that aid to farmers and fishermen had been cut is not true, says Agriculture and Agro- based Minister Datuk Salahuddin Ayub.

“I would like to assure them that they will still receive their subsistence and subsidies from the ministry,” he said.

Salahuddin however said he had asked for a stringent check to be conducted as there was confusing facts and statistics over who actually deserved the aid.

“I asked the ministry’s officers to conduct a check, which is almost complete,” he said after attending Southern Waste Management Chinese New Year celebrations at the Amitabha Malaysia Welfare Association here yesterday.

Salahuddin said aid recipients must meet criteria and requirements set by the ministry.

These include work schedules for farmers to be provided by farmers themselves, he said.

He urged those who failed to get the assistance to appeal and assured them he would personally ask his officers to check on their status.

Salahuddin also spoke about his emotional breakdown during the ministry’s unveiling of its five- point plan to ensure food security and to boost revenue in the agricultural sector on Thursday.

“Farming is part of my upbringing as I am a village boy from Tanjung Piai and I understand their hardship.

“I am a man and it is not easy for me to cry but when I read the letter and watched the video I could not help it,” he said adding that after 60 years, farmers and fishermen were still languishing in the lower income group.

The Pulai MP also said he has been in the ministry for nine months and his main objective is to improved the livelihood of farmers and fishermen.

Bernama had reported that Salahuddin was visibly moved and shed tears when he read a letter addressed to him by a farmer during the launch.

The letter, written by 77-year-old Ibas Hamud, a representative of the Sungai Besar Farmers Association, conveyed the fears and concerns by the farming and fishermen communities over the purported cancellation of their cost-of-living allowances.