HEAR OUR PROBLEMS: A section of the participants at the seminar. One of them is seen raising several issues for the relevant people to provide answers.

02/10/2013 (Borneo Post) - Dayak oil palm smallholders in Bintulu are complaining of the many different prices of fresh fruit bunches (FFBs) and insufficient number of mills.

This was made known during a recent seminar organised by Dayak Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) in Bintulu when the smallholders aired their worries and asked the government officers present for solutions to these problems.

“This has resulted in tonnes of collected FFBs not sold which leads to significant losses to the smallholders,” the chamber’s executive secretary Terence Temenggong Jayang said in a press statement received here yesterday.

He also said the issue of native customary rights (NCR) land use and the lengthy period taken by Land and Survey Department to approve the land status were also raised during the seminar.

“Speedy approval is needed to enable NCR landowners to apply for and qualify for facilities from the relevant agencies such as Rubber Industry Smallholders Development Authority (Risda), Malaysian Pepper Board (MPB), Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) and Agriculture Department.”

More than 240 people comprising mostly NCR landowners involved in the planting of rubber, pepper and oil palm, attended the seminar in Bintulu on Sept 27. They were all keen to know about the various facilities and services provided by the relevant government departments and agencies.

They included Penghulu Iju Tutong from Mukah, Penghulu Sylvester (Tatau) and 16 headmen from Arip, Tatau, Mukah, Balingian and the surrounding longhouses in Bintulu.

On the positive side, Temenggong said a training proposal for those interested in pepper-planting and processing was well received by the participants.

He also said the participants welcomed the good news announced by Risda Sarawak director Wahid Marican that NCR land owners were now allowed to develop their lands subject to approval by Land and Survey Department.

Apart from Wahid, other speakers at the seminar were Betong Divisional Agriculture officer Wilson Ngumbang, MPB senior director Larry Sait and also MPOB Miri office head Fadzli Mustapha.

DCCI secretary-general, Libat Langub, on behalf of deputy president Tan Sri Dato Sri Celestine Ujang, opened the seminar. Also present were DCCI capacity building manager Mabel Salina and membership and activities executive Marylyn Juttie Belilie.