KUANTAN: Vegetable farm operators in Cameron Highlands say they will have to scale down their production soon due to the anticipated shortage of foreign workers in the next few months.
Cameron Highlands Malay Farmers Association president Datuk Syed Abdul Rahman said the government's move to cancel the unused foreign worker quota by March 31 has left the operators "high and dry."
"It will not be felt immediately but the new condition (cancel foreign worker quota) will have an impact maybe starting May or June this year onwards. It will take few months before the manpower shortages are felt.
"The majority of the labourers from Indonesia and Bangladesh have began preparing to return to their respective countries for Hari Raya Aidilfitri next month. Some have worked in the farms for 10 years and their permits can no longer be renewed.
"Some of them have valid permits (can still work till 10 years) but have decided not to make the trip back to work in Malaysia after Aidilfitri. This is worrying as it might contribute to severe manpower shortage at the farms and result in a dip in vegetable production.
"Cameron Highlands produces up to 1,000 metric tonnes of vegetables daily for wholesale markets and labourer shortage would affect production.
Lack of manpower will force farm operators to reduce their production and maybe only partially utilise their land....if the farm operator has 1.6ha of land, he will only use 0.8ha to minimise losses," he said when contacted today (March 13).
Syed Abdul Rahman echoed Federation of Vegetable Farmers Association of Malaysia chairman Lim Ser Kwee today that the cancellation of unused foreign labour quota will result in manpower shortage and hike in prices of vegetables in the market due to drop in supply.
Meanwhile, Syed Abdul Rahman said the lack of foreign workers and the ensuing drop in production may force the government to import vegetable to stabilise the prices.
"I am concerned farm operators will choose to minimise vegetable production as they have no workers to manage the farms. They cannot operate as usual and the country has to import vegetables to meet local demand," he said, adding there were about 6,000 foreign workers hired in Cameron Highlands.
Syed Abdul Rahman said the association had submitted a letter to the Home Ministry with copies to the Transport Ministry and Immigration Department to reconsider giving an extension for the foreign workers intake.
Meanwhile, farmer Chay Ee Mong said the government's decision on foreign workers is quite worrying as 'business' is slowly returning to normal after the monsoon season.
"There was a drop in supply due to the raining season but production has returned to normal.
However, I am not sure how we are going to manage the farms if there are not enough workers.
"At the moment, there are no issues with the foreign workers but many will return to the respective countries for Aidilfitri and some might choose not to return back to Malaysia," he said.
On March 8, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said May 31 has been fixed as the deadline for the hiring of foreign workers through the Labour Recalibration Programme 2.0.