In Malaysia in the midst of concerns over the possibility of a 40% decline in production of vegetable because of rising costs of market and lack of labor, the chief executive of a supermarket chain has questioned vegetable farmers about the reasons behind price hikes. Ameer Ali Mydin emphasized that there is adequate and pointed out that the previous approval by the government was for an extensive amount of foreign workers to be recruited for plantation companies.

In spite of a suspension for a short time, Ali Mydin pointed out that the granting of a lot of foreigners in the past does not support the claim of an unsustainable labor supply. The statement came following reports that forecast a spike in the market price this month, based on the predicted decrease in supply of vegetable.

In addition, the minister for home, Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, has declared March 31 to be the date for foreign workers to apply for to be employed in the Labour Recalibration Programme 2.0, 20970 foreigners were approved in March of this year. However however, it is reported that the Malaysian Federation of Vegetable Farmers Association expects to see worsening conditions regardless of the efforts made by the government.

Source: freemalaysiatoday.com