THE Sabak Bernam parliamentary constituency in the north-west of Selangor bordering Perak has two state constituencies, Sabak and Sungai Air Tawar.
It is known for its fishing villages, padi fields (in Sabak) as well as oil palm (in Sungai Air Tawar), coconut and banana plantations.
There are seven small fishing villages namely Bagan Sungai Burung, Bagan Sungai Pulai, Bagan Nakhoda Omar, Bagan Sungai Tawar, Bagan Parit Baru, Bagan Teluk Rhu and Bagan Sungai Lang.
There are 40,863 voters comprising 83.04% Malay, 11.69% Chinese, 4.95% Indian and 0.32% others. Sungai Air Tawar has 16,274 voters while Sabak has 24,589 voters.
The constituency will see incumbents and newcomers in three-cornered fights.
For the parliament seat, Sabak Bernam Umno division chief Datuk Mohd Fasiah Mohd Fakeh, 62, will take on Pribumi’s Datuk Warno Dogol, 58, and PAS’ Muhammad Labib Abd Jalil, 31, a newcomer.
Mohd Fasiah, who was formerly Sabak Bernam district assistant education officer, hoped to appeal for fertiliser subsidy for oil palm smallholders as they face the uncertainty of severe price fluctuations.
On the three-corner fight, he said Barisan could maintain the seat because half of the 40,000 voters were supporters.
Muhammad Labib, a religious teacher, wants to draw a plan for youths to be involved in farming and to fight for the rights of farmers and fishermen.
For the Sungai Air Tawar state seat, all candidates are newcomers.
Sabak Bernam Umno youth chief Rizam Ismail, 37, is taking on PAS’ Zamri Yahya, 51, who is former Kolej Integrasi Tahfiz Tunas Ilmuan Selangor headmaster, and Pribumi’s Mohd Hamizar Sulaiman, 48, the party’s Sabak Bernam deputy division chief.
Rizam plans to build up the Sungai Air Tawar town and upgrade broken stalls.
“I will help the small-medium enterprises and provide them exposure to online businesses so that they are able to sell their village products,” he said.
Rizam, former federal coordinator for Sungai Air Tawar wants to assist small-time farmers get the aid they need.
The Sabak state seat will see incumbent Selangor PAS commissioner Ustaz Sallehen Mukhyi challenging
Sabak Bernam Umno division chairman Sallehuddin Mohd Iskan, 50, a newcomer, and Amanah’s Ustaz Ahmad Mustain Othman, 51, who is a religious teacher.
Sallehen said the biggest issue for rural folk was the cost of living and as a local Sabak dweller, he proposed for an agropolitan town for Sabak to help farmers be hands-on in marketing their produce and to remove the role of the middlemen.
While he hoped to make Sabak Bernam an education hub for Selangor as stated in PAS Selangor’s manifesto, Sallehuddin, a registered valuer, said Sabak lacked housing for the poor.
Ahmad Mustain said Pakatan Harapan’s fight was not for Sabak to be industrialised but to have modern agriculture practices that gives higher yields, higher wages and to reduce urban migration.
“Many children have left their old parents in the villages. Agriculture cannot attract them because the wages per day is only RM60, and they have to compete with foreign workers,” he said, adding that many shops had closed because of the lack of buying capacity.
Youths demand for more
They want better income-producing economic activities in the quiet villages surrounded by padi fields and fishing wharves.
Due to the lack of economic activities, locals say that many youths have left their villages for better opportunities in the cities and many of the aged are left alone to care for their farms and fields.
About 70% of the population are farmers, mostly aged above 60 years.
They hire Bangladeshi and Indonesian workers to help out in the farms, according to the locals.
The young want better paying jobs but they are hard to come by, said Sukri Zaidin, 22, who lives in Parit 4 Barat in Sabak, Sabak Bernam.
He completed technical training and applied for 20 jobs but could not get any.
“Sijil tak laku. (The certificate has no value.) They want experienced workers,” he said, adding that he resigned from his job and worked in vegetable farms near his home.
For the young, high operations cost, market fluctuations and the unpredictable weather impact deter them from going into farming, said Mohammad Azrul Haziq Zulkifli, 25, a farmer in Kampung Tebuk Berehun, Sabak who started planting chillies after completing his degree in UiTM, Jasin, Melaka.
In early 2017, the youths in rural areas were encouraged to plant chilli and Azrul planted 8,000 polybags or 16,000 long chillies hybrid from Japan called Sakata 461, which is popularly used in yong tau fu.
But the price plunged from about RM8 per kg to between RM2.50 and RM4, due to competition from imported chillies, making it difficult for him to cover the operations cost, including wages, pesticide and fertiliser.
Azrul said the elected government should support young farmers who produce food for the community by providing courses specific for the young while giving subsidy for fertiliser and pesticide.
Muhamad Hansulkarip Abdul Jaabar, 75, whose son owns a 0.4ha chilli farm in Batu 39, Sabak Bernam said the fall in price in the last one month as a result of a glut in imported chillies had affected them badly.
“It is not even enough for us to buy fertiliser or pay the workers,” he said.
As it is, they faced other challenges – pest attack and curly leaves leading to shrivelled and inedible chillies.
His son, Mohd Samsul Khalil, 45, said it cost his younger brother RM100,000 to install the drainage system and buy fertiliser and seed, and to set up a nursery, office and workers’ quarters.
Said Amiruddin, 60, oil palm farmer at Kg Batu 37, Sabak, said the price of oil palm also dropped.
The price of oil palm fruit bunch, he said, was RM390 per tonne.
For each hectare, he got 2.5 to 2.8 tonnes of fruit bunch a month and sometimes it could be as low as 1.8 tonne on a two-month cycle.
After paying RM90 for a worker for each tonne, he said he would get between RM1,800 and RM2,000 a month, adding that this year the overall demand dropped.
He said about two months ago, it was RM450 per tonne while in the past, he could get about RM700.
Sabak, Mohammad Ali Othman, 65, a fisherman, said many of them applied for licence for their outboard engine sampan in order to get oil subsidy but they did not get any.
He said their small boats measuring 6.7m can only travel up to two nautical miles from the shore and it was difficult for them to survive without the oil subsidy.
His monthly salary, he added was only RM500 and he planted vegetables to supplement their income.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Get 20% OFF The Star Digital Access
Cancel anytime. Ad-free. Unlimited access with perks.
