KOTA KINABALU: With no piped water, electricity, road access and hardly any government assistance, Daverino Wais sees rubber as his ticket out of his hardship.
The 30-year-old tapper, his wife Julita Lajin and three young children lead a simple life in Kampung Peniang, Telipok near here. But he feels it's even harder in the village where they came from in Ranau.
"It may seem difficult here, but life was harder as I did not have land to work on.
"At least here I get to earn better money. I do not want my children to end up like me, uneducated and at times living hand to mouth," Daverino said.
His income, from taking a one-third cut from sales of an average of 250kg of rubber sheets monthly (shared with the landowner), is far better than the RM7 per day paid by an oil palm smallholder in his village before he came here.
(Current prices are about RM3.50 a kg for rubber sheets and RM3 a kg for scrap.)
Daverino and Julita, both 23, also get to plant vegetables and rear chickens and fish for food in the farm, owned by a retired civil servant. The couple also weave nets or rafia hammocks when they are free for additional income.
Daverino starts his day with a steep walk up a slippery path to tap the rubber trees on a two-ha plot, half of which is planted with rubber, as his wife looks after their three children -- Devon, 5, Debbie, 3, and Dexlin, 7 months.
The afternoon is normally spent on the vegetable plot and the fish pond, which he helps tend for the owner who lives outside of the village.
The rubber trees he taps are between 10 and 30 years old, although new ones are growing under a replanting effort by the landowner with help from Daverino.
But there is no assistance from the government for replanting, partly because the rubber holding is within the state capital and Daverino, despite being poor, does not own the land to qualify.
In Kampung Peniang, there are at least five families who tap rubber for a 50-50 share of the earnings with the landowners.
"Many landowners depend on others to tap their rubber trees these days because the prices are good," said Daverino.
The rubber sheets are bought once or twice monthly by the Sabah Rubber Industry Board which despatches its employees in a lorry to areas where rubber tapping remains active.
"We don't mind not getting any form of assistance because as it is, we could save some of our earnings. There is also enough for the family to eat and we have a roof above our heads," Daverino said.
"When I came here three years ago, I knew nothing about rubber tapping but I slowly learned from others.
"I have worked as a construction worker, oil palm labourer and held other odd jobs but this, by far, has been the best for me."
Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Tan Sri Bernard Dompok recently said that the rubber industry had endured the test of time in Sabah.
"Many families in Sabah depend on rubber to earn their living and it has also been identified as one of the key industries in the effort to eradicate poverty."
He stressed that now would be the time for tappers to learn new technologies and venture into downstream industry.
Echoing similar optimism is the Sabah Rubber Industry Board deputy general manager Vincent Liew, who is in charge of the development of smallholders who make up the majority in the industry.
"The rubber industry is a sure deal for those who work hard because I have seen people who came in rag-like clothes five or 10 years ago have since enjoyed vast changes in their lifestyles."
No comments:
Post a Comment