TEMERLOH: The government is expected to announce short and long-term measures to help more than 326,253 rubber smallholders who are hardpressed by the drop in the prices of rubber globally.
Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Mohd Shafie Apdal said the measures had been drafted and would be discussed and finetuned in a meeting with the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities and the Ministry of Finance this evening.
“The government takes a serious view on the drop in rubber prices and will scrutinise the short and long-term measures to alleviate the burden of the smallholders,” he said after opening a national-level rubber tapping campaign here, today.
It is understood that the measures included giving a special one-off aid due to the drop in rubber prices to qualified smallholders.
This followed the drop in the price of SMR20 to RM5.99 a kilogramme, which was far lower than when the government introduced the aid, at RM7.09 a kilogramme.
The market price for scrap rubber currently was reported at RM2.25 a kilogramme, and smallholders who were depending on rubber were now at the poverty level. – BERNAMA
