18/07/2011 (Borneo Post) - The regulations on minimum wages for plantation workers would likely be enforced either end of this year or early next year, Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Tan Sri Bernard Dompok said yesterday.

“The Bills on minimum wages for plantation workers was tabled recently by the Minister for Human Resource and it was approved. However, I am unable to say when it is going to be implemented because it is under other ministry and not us.

“But I believe the guidelines for the minimum wages will be introduced either end of this year or early next year,” he said, adding that the introduction of the guidelines was part of the government’s efforts in encouraging locals to work in plantations.

He disclosed this when speaking to reporters after opening the ministry’s monthly assembly hosted by the Pepper Marketing Board here.

He said that at the moment most local people were very reluctant to work in the plantation sector as they felt that the wage was far too low and because of that many employers had no other alternative but to rely on foreign workers.

“We are fully aware of this situation and have put up a proposal to the government to introduce the minimal wage for the sector so that we need not have to employ foreigners when many of our people are unemployed.”

Based on the statistics published by the Plantation Industries and Commodities Ministry, there are presently 887,974 workers in various sectors in the plantation industry.

Of the total, a majority or 603,786 were in the oil palm sector, followed by forest plantation (177,106), pepper (67,019), cocoa (27,100), rubber (10,813) and tobacco plantation (2,151) which includes those small holders working in their own farms.

From the 887,974 workers engaged in the plantation industry throughout the country, 215,768 or over 24 per cent are foreigners.

Earlier in his speech, Dompok said he was pleased that the two crops under the ministry’s national key result areas, namely oil palm and rubber, had both shown very positive growth over the years.

He said oil palm’s contribution to the Gross National Income (GNI) would be RM178 billion by the year 2020, compared with only RM53 billion two years ago.

Rubber, on the other hand, was projected to contribute RM58 billion to the country’s GNI in 2020, from RM18 billion in 2009.

He said that the other positive sign was the increase to the nation’s commodity export value and commodity based product by 20 per cent from RM36.8 billion in the first quarter of last year to RM44.3 billion over the corresponding period this year.

Pleased with the achievement, he hoped that the trend would continue till year end.

He attributed the positive growth to the country’s firm economic foundation, political stability and racial harmony.