FORMER Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak advised locals to take up jobs in the agriculture and farming sectors following soaring prices of food items in Malaysia.
“Many migrant workers have left the country following COVID-19, with the Government also restricting workers’ intake from foreign countries.
“Hence, many sectors including the food industries is having acute shortage of workers, impacting production.
“This is causing rising prices of goods, which is not only affecting Malaysian but other countries too,” he said, in a Facebook post.
Last week, the public took to social media to vet out frustration over rising prices of vegetables across Malaysia.
For example; cauliflower prices, had shot up more than 100% – from RM7 to RM16 per kg while Chinese cabbage (choy sum), a Malaysian staple, has increased from RM3 to RM9 per kg in the past two weeks.
Former Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng yesterday blamed the situation to “half-baked lockdowns” imposed by the previous administration and urged the Domestic Trade and Consumerism Affairs Ministry to act on it.
Act now, Home Ministry
On that note, Najib said that in the event local workers were short of supply, then the Government should allow farmers, breeders and fishermen to hire migrant workers.
And to help them employ more workers, Najib urged the Government to extend the Wage Subsidy Programme to the employers temporarily until the situation stabilises.
“The Home Minister should also allow recruitment of foreign workers if manpower shortage persists. Don’t delay this any longer.
“The longer you wait, the problem will become more chronic due to lack of supply and soaring demand,” the Pekan MP remarked. – Nov 28, 2021.
