KOTA BELUD: Local youths must give plantation and other agricultural jobs a chance as it is the mainstay of the Sabah economy and one that has about the most promising future at the moment.
Yayasan Kota Belud
chairman Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak said that local youths were not
even considering these two sectors, as they feared the hard work and
perceived bad living conditions, thus forcing owners to opt for foreign
labour.
The plantation sector today is not the same as
in the past as planters are offering better wages, perks and living
conditions, as well as other social amenities, he added. Salleh was
speaking after launching the Kota Belud Education, Skills and Career
exposition here.
The exposition was officially launched
by Assistant Minister of Resource Development and Information
Technology, Datuk Jainab Ahmad, on behalf of Deputy Chief Minister Datuk
Dr Yee Moh Chai.
Salleh said, “Plantation owners are enjoying good receipts from high commodity prices.
They
in turn are offering better salaries to attract capable local workers,
while farming food crops can be turned into a lucrative venture with
today’s modern technology.
“As such, instead of staying
away from such a wonderful opportunity, local youths should boldly
enter the plantation sector as the opportunities and rewards are ample
and great is the demand.” Salleh said Sabah’s over-dependence on foreign
labour in the plantation sector was not to its advantage, as engaging
workers from its traditional source of Indonesia was becoming difficult,
given that Kalimantan was seeing more plantations being opened.
He
said many local youths who were once cadet planters had made good and
many had been successfully employed by government agencies such as the
Sabah Land Development Board and the Sawit Kinabalu Group, apart from
the private sector.Salleh, who is also State Legislative Assembly Speaker, also called on planters to engage local youths and impress upon them that life is not “hell” on the plantations and that there are ample things to do once work in the field is over.
He
also said there should be improved housing for the workers, good health
facilities as well as schools, so that the children of the workers can
receive their education close by.
Touching on farming,
he said Sabah’s over dependence on food imports was also not good as the
repercussions would be severe should an international food crisis
occur.
He said youths could venture into paddy
cultivation, growing tropical fruits or even vegetables that could find a
ready market in the state.
“I must admit that it is
hard work, but a successful farmer can earn five to ten times more in
the food production sector, as compared to someone working in an
office,” he added.
Salleh said that with thousands of
vacancies in the plantation sector as well as the service industry,
Sabah’s unemployment rate should be low.
If at all, the unemployment rate is high, he added, it was because job seekers were choosy.
On
the exposition which was organised jointly by Yayasan Kota Belud and
the Distrct Office, Salleh said it was to give school leavers and job
seekers a chance to meet face to face, prospective employers as well as
those involved in tertiary education.
More than a
thousand youths, including those sitting for the fifth and sixth form
exams, school leavers and job seekers attended the one-day exposition.
On
hand to advise those keen on pursuing further education were
counsellors and advisors from 15 colleges and institutions of higher
learning.
A dozen companies, including three plantation
giants, Sawit, Genting and Sabah Softwoods, granted interviews to
prospective workers.
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