By Simon Peter
KUCHING, March 5, 2015: Sarawak DAP chairman Chong Chieng
Jen has hit out at Land Development Minister James Masing over his confusing
statement regarding the hiring of Bangladeshi workers by plantation companies
in the state.
"The government’s policy to allow the hiring of
Bangladeshi workers for plantation will only benefit the BN cronies and
plantation companies, but at the expense of the locals," Chong said when
commenting on Masing's statement yesterday.
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| Chong Chieng Jen |
He said Masing may sound reluctant to implement this
policy, but, in the last November sitting of the Sarawak state legislative assembly, the minister was a
strong proponent of this policy of allowing the hiring of Bangladeshi workers.
He said Masing's argument skirts the issue that large plots
of so-called "state land" have been sold cheaply to crony companies
for oil palm plantations.
"The urgent need for foreign plantation workers
arises when the government alienates too much land to private companies for
plantation too quickly.
"On the other hand, the locals, especially the
natives, have been deprived of their Native Customary Right (NCR) land,"
he said.
"Why is there such a need to sell huge plots of land
to these private companies? Why is there
the need to develop these land into oil palm plantation so quickly?" he
asked Masing.
In most cases, he claimed these companies get the land
from the government and then sell it to huge plantation companies for quick
profits.
The modus operandi is, Government sells these plantation
land to these crony companies at the price of RM300 per acre, these cronies
will then sell the land to large plantation companies at the price of RM4,000 –
RM5,000 per acre for quick profit.
"If the State government does not allow the hiring
of foreign worker for plantation, it will then be difficult for these crony
companies to sell their land, because the plantation companies will find it
difficult to get the required manpower for their plantation.
"However, if the government allows the hiring of
large number of foreign cheap labour, the marketability of these plantation
land will increase further, making it easier for the BN cronies to sell off the
land to the plantation companies," he alleged.
To the people of Sarawak, he said the detrimental effects
of the policy to allow the hiring of large number of foreign workers are that:
-it suppresses the wage payable to the locals working in
plantation;
-It further increases the “land grab” activities in
Sarawak. Ultimately, more natives and
locals will be deprived of their NCR land and land for small stakeholder
cultivation; and
-in long term, with so many oil palm plantations in the
state, it will adversely affect our environment and pollute our water source.
"I urge Masing to be true to the interest of the
people of Sarawak, especially the natives who will be most badly hit by the
government’s policy to allow these foreign workers to flood the plantation
sector in Sarawak.
"The scale is weighing the interest of the locals on
the one hand against the interest of the BN cronies and large plantation
companies on the other hand.
"As people’s representatives elected by the people,
our loyalty and concern should be the interest of the people and not the BN
cronies. If the BN government is true to
its claim about protecting Sarawakians’ interest, then it should ban the hiring
of foreign workers in Sarawak.
"As for those BN cronies who have got State land
cheaply but have no manpower to carry out planting, or cannot find buyer for
their land because of the shortage in plantation workers, it is high time that
they surrender the land back to the government," he said.
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