It takes more than subsidies to improve living standard in Sabah

KOTA KINABALU, March 1, 2012: The government should strive to improve the livelihood of the rural people by improving their income, instead of just implementing some superficial measures.

Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) Supreme Council member Carrie Fong said the government should not be proud of itself for its so-called "price standardisation project" which is poised to reach 1,022 areas nationwide this year.

Among items under the projects are sugar, flour, cooking oil and ST15 rice.

She said such a move shows that the people are largely still languish and remained in poverty, so poor that they need assistance in their very basic survival.

"It shows that the government has failed to uplift the income of the rural folks and has failed to solve this perpetual problem," she said.

Noting that the government is spending hundreds of millions of ringgit on subsidy, and on transportation cost for the said four items i.e. sugar, flour, cooking oil and ST15 rice, she asked: "What about other essential goods, such as fertilizers, clothing, building materials, and other food products?"

On transportation alone RM200 million is spent each year to transport goods to the interior in order to standardize prices, she noted.

She said in other words, the people in the rural area have to pay much more for these other items.

Citing the case of rural Sarawak where the people there used to pay as much as RM45 for a 10kg ST15 rice, but now pay RM18 due to allocation of transport subsidy under the said project, she pointed out that although the price for the said four items is now 2.5 times cheaper than before, it nonetheless also means the rural folks are paying 2.5 times higher for everything else.

"The rural folks are poor, and yet they still have to pay higher price for many other essential products," she said.

She was responding to the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry's secretary-general Datuk Saripuddin Kasim’s announcement of the said project on Monday.

Fong thus asserted that the government should strive to better improve the road infrastructure to reduce transport cost, assist to improve the livelihood of the rural people by improving their earning ability.

"For instance, more agriculture assistance can be provided in the form of better quality seeds, introducing better know-how and technology, particularly to the small farmers," she cited.

She pointed out that under SAPP economic plan, land utilization will be studied and implemented in order to generate income and accelerate economic growth of Sabah.

"Rice planting, aquaculture and livestock breeding will be some of the targeted areas SAPP government will pursue," she said.

Fong also blamed the existing Cabotage Policy for contributing to higher prices in Sabah as compared to Peninsula Malaysia, as it unnecessarily causes higher shipping cost.

Noting that every resident in Sabah pays more for every imported product, including raw materials for property development, manufacturing and other industrial enterprises because of such an unfair policy benefiting the ruling elites and their cronies, she promised that SAPP will definitely look into ways to have the Cabotage Policy abolished, if it succeeds in forming the next State government.

"SAPP will pursue ways to improve the livelihood for all Malaysians living in Sabah. All residents in Sabah pays more compared to West Malaysia, but rural folks of Sabah are punished more severely due to poor basic infrastructure planning," she concluded.