By Lian Cheng
KUCHING, Feb 16: The Sarawak Rubber Industry Board (Sarib) Bill 2022 has been unanimously passed following the debates of several lawmakers, many of whom shared their sentimental nostalgia and experience with rubber tapping as schoolchildren.
Minister of Modernisation of Agriculture and Regional Dato Sri Dr Stephen Rundi who tabled the Bill thus appealed to their sentiment to pass it.
“Since the Ahli-Ahli Berhormat (the honourable members of the house) have been very sentimental about this rubber industry and everyone of us, if not all, two-thirds of us, had experienced tapping rubber at 3am in the morning before we went to school, and most of us, when we talked about this Bill, I don’t think we have any reason not to support the Bill,” said Dr Rundi during his winding up speech at the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) after the third reading of the Bill.
He reiterated that the spirit of the formation of the Sarawak Rubber Industry Board (Sarib) was to assist the smallholder sector especially those in the B40 group by increasing their income to RM6,000 per household (per month) by 2030, the year Sarawak has set to achieve a high-income economy status.
The introduction of the Bill, according to Dr Rundi was also to repeal the Rubber Ordinance 1958, though revised in 1967, after it was found to be no longer relevant.
Sarib, the Kemena assemblyman (GPS-PBB) summarised, aims to promote, facilitate and develop the rubber industry in the State.
It is also set up to formulate strategic objectives, policies, priorities for the orderly development and administration of the rubber industry in Sarawak.
“This is very important to the State in our endeavour to optimise the potential resources that we have for the benefit of our people in Sarawak especially the B40 group and smallholders who are struggling more than a decade, trying to put food on the table,” said Dr Rundi. — DayakDaily
