Farmers Cry For Help As Competition With Foreigners Heats Up
By Asri Razak

Bandar Seri Begawan - The Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources must get its act together if it wants to develop the agriculture sector and sharpen its competitive edge in a globalised world.

This was the message conveyed to ministry officials during a motivational seminar for farmers at the ministry's office yesterday. Farmers are incurring massive losses due to the agriculture department's lack of initiatives to protect their interests and ensuring fair play among local producers, said farmer Alihan Alias, whose litany of complaints was met with a round of applause from about 100 other farmers attending the seminar.

A government official gave his assurance that the problems would be addressed.

The official advised the farmers to write to the department. Mr Alihan stressed that the government should have already put in place a pricing mechanism, supported the formation of farmers' associations and prepared proper marketing plans for farmers, among others.

"Our livelihoods are affected by women foreign traders. Loss, loss, loss, loss is what we face in most days. Only when, they are not working that we actually earn some profit," he said.

Mr Alihan, whose tirades over government policies caught ministry officials by surprise, emphasised the importance of a pricing mechanism. "Currently there is no fixed price. Prices vary. Customers will go to the cheapest and this is when farmers lose out," he said.

He also called on the department to look into localityspecific problems faced by farmers as most of them are forced to market their produce at non-strategic places.

"Farmers are located in the Sengkurong area whereas It's in places like Gadong where farmers could fetch better prices," he said.

Mr Alihan pointed out with regret during the seminar that the plight of Brunei farmers was worst than their counterparts in Malaysia.

"Over there they have a proper system in place to protect the interest of the local producers. "Their farmers are united under an association and they help the government in its decision making process' on policies affecting the farming industry. But there are none of that here and we are under (the control of) the agriculture department," said the farmer from Tutong.

He noted that this deserved attention from the government, which is tapping the agriculture sector for its economic diversification goals.  -- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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