BELAGA: Natives at the Bakun Dam area near here are still finding it difficult to find jobs despite the opening up of more than 50,000ha of oil palm estates.
They are losing out to Indonesian workers who are willing to accept very low wages instead.
Native men are going to towns like Bintulu, Miri and Kuching to look for jobs, leaving their old, women and children behind.
A visit to the areas revealed that many longhouses were empty during the day because the women had to go to the farms to tend to their vegetable plots and rice fields.
Previously, the longhouses would be full of activities as the men would be tending their fields while the women handled domestic chores.
The population in places like the Sungai Asap Resettlement Scheme has dwindled considerably because of the exodus of young men.
Bakun community chief Penghulu Saging Bit said many oil palm estates preferred to hire Indonesians.
“The oil palm estates offer wages of between RM15 and RM20 per day for workers.
“The locals cannot accept such low pay because they have big families to support. A man with a wife and three children or more cannot survive on RM15 or RM20 per day,” he said.
Morris Atan, a father of three small children, said he had once worked in a timber camp but found that the RM20 per day pay was too low.
He said he had tried to negotiate for higher pay but because of the willingness of foreign workers to accept low pay, his contract was not renewed.
“Apart from the oil palm estates and timber camps, where else can we find jobs?” he asked.
A timber camp manager said local workers were too demanding.
“The Indonesians are more hardworking. They are willing to work longer hours. Locals will complain when asked to do extra work and they will demand more off days to visit their families in the interior,” he said.
It is estimated that there are at least 60,000 Indonesians working in oil palm estates in Sarawak.
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