PADANG TERAP, 20 Feb: Nearly, 2,000 residents who are rubber tappers came out in droves in Pekan Naka yesterday to demand action from the Central Government to overcome the problem of rubber prices falling sharply.
They are the people whose income has been severely affected by the sharp decline in rubber prices in recent months.
The assembly was named ‘Rubber Tappers’ Suffering Assembly’, to express their complaints on the economic pressure they have to bear.
Various banners were brought, including those written “Price of goods up, price of rubber down”, “BN wins, people comfortable?” and “What’s the Story of Rubber (prices) going down, thank you BN”.
In the meantime, they also urged the Central Government to fix the floor price of rubber at RM4 per kilogram to ease the burden of rubber tappers.
The Malaysia PAS Youth Chief, Suhaizan Kaiat, who also participated in the assembly, said that most of the rubber tappers now had to tighten their belts because their monthly income has been affected.
Normally, Suhaizan said, the income of those who hollows of rubber is around RM300 to RM400 per month and it is still below the poverty line.
“That was when rubber prices were high, and they tapped 6 days a week if it did not rain. During the rainy season or drought, their income is less than that.
“In 1974, the price of a pound of rubber was 25 cents, the same as a pound of sugar at that time, which was also 2 cents. Now the price of sugar is RM2.85 per kilogram, while the price of a scrap of rubber is RM2.40.
“The difference in the price of the essential goods is huge,” he said, quoted from Harakah Daily.
The assembly held yesterday was the third to be held. Previously, similar assemblies were held in several places, including Baling.
