Bandar Seri Begawan - Prices of flowering plants have been slashed by almost half of the original amount due to a decrease in the number of people purchasing, said some vendors at the Rimba Horticulture Centre yesterday.

Vendor Supriyati of stall number MS at the Rimba I Horticulture Centre told The Brunei Times that sales were better last year, causing them to lower their prices for most flowers.
"It is difficult for us to sell flowers nowadays. For example, we used to sell bougainvilleas at $20 last year but we had to re-price them to $10 now because there are not many people buying flowers," she said, adding that they had not been earning much money.

Supriyati said that she thinks people were not buying as much as they used to because they are now starting to plant themselves at home.

"Like last year, they would conic and buy the flowers from us and once the flowers had seedlings, they would plant themselves at home instead of coming back to us to buy more flowers," she said.

Among many species of local flowers that Supriyati's stall sells include imported orchids from Thailand. However she said that although business had not been doing particularly well, importing the orchids were not affecting them as it is not that expensive to bring them in.

Siti Ara Hj Alim, owner of stall BI and Siti Ara clan Anak-anak Enterprise echoed similar sentiments.

"Last year, there were definitely more people buying my flowers. I used to sell my bunga daun at $5 but had to cut it down to $2 now," she said. She also suggested financial aid from the government to support them, and reduce the number of stalls at the Rimba Horticulture Centre due to stiff competition.

"Currently, there are 60 stalls but alhamdulillah, they will cut the number of stalls down to 30 or less," she said, adding that business would probably improve for the vendors.
Meanwhile, caretaker Mursiyatun of Nilam Hj Lam it Sdn Bhd said that even though it was difficult for her to sell bunga daun, she did not want to lower her prices.
"If I lower the prices, I will lose out and not make anything, so my prices will be the same for the time being," she said.

Mursiyatun said that she also imported a variety of orchids from Thailand, as it was not expensive.
She added that when the Rimba Carden Centre opens for Bruneians to conduct floriculture research and development, she would definitely participate so that she no longer has to import orchids.

"I will definitely go there to reap the benefits of learning how to pm-duce and grow our own orchids. That way, I do not have to import them from Thailand anymore," she said, adding that this would promote local flowers and plants.

Another vendor, Rokiah Hj Yusof and owner of stall number A27 at the Rimba Horticulture Centre said that it had been "really quiet" this year, in terms of sales.
"Sales have been going down compared to last year. But because Raya is just around the corner, people are starting to buy flowers," she said. She added that it would be "nice" for the government to provide financial aid, because sales have not been doing well.

-- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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