Upper hand for foreign labour

Longhouse residents are now free from the shackles of poverty with the help of the government in agriculture and they now enjoy the benefits of palm oil crops cultivated on a small scale in Kampung Bayai Sri Aman, here today.ZULAZHAR SHEBLEE / THE STAR

KUCHING: Sarawak Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority (Salcra), which operates 19 oil palm estates with total area of 51,600ha, has reported a sharp decline in local workers, particularly fruit harvesters, over the past 16 years.

General manager Datuk Vasco Sabat Singkang said the number of locals employed by Salcra had dropped by 46% from 3,043 in 1999 to 1,637 last year while foreign workers had jumped by more than threefold to 1,816 from 577 during the same period.