According to The Borneo Post today (1 August), all the agricultural stations throughout the state, which have been closed for some time, will be revived next year, deputy chief minister Alfred Jabu Anak Numpang announced yesterday in Betong.
This includes the stations in Tarat, Serian and Layar, Sibiew (Bintulu) and Punang (Lawas).
Staff from the agricultural department would be deployed to all the stations.
“Reviving the agriculture stations is meant to complement the government’s effort to help the rural populace. There is a need to revive them to develop the agriculture sector,” he said.
Besides reviving the 18 stations, the government had decided to build another three such stations, said Jabu, who is also the minister of modernisation of agriculture.
He did not give reasons why the agricultural stations were closed.
These stations became the training ground for our rural people to be “efficient” farmers in terms of rearing chickens, ducks, goats, cows and fish and of planting padi, pepper, cocoa, fruit trees and vegetables, and of teaching the women folk home economics – to look after their families, sewing, cake-making, handicraft, and so on and so on.
Under this agriculture home extension programme, home demonstrators from the agriculture department visited the rural villages and longhouses weekly or monthly to ensure that their programmes went on smoothly. Agriculture officers were also sent to ensure that the pepper vines, cocoa, rubber trees, fruit trees and their chickens and herds were always healthy.
Suddenly all these stopped. Why? And the man who stopped all these was Adenan Satem, who then became agriculture minister. He took over from Daniel Tajem after the Ming Court affair in March 1987.
All the staff members from these stations were pulled back to agricultural offices. The home demonstrators were absorbed into normal staff. We did not know the reasons why all the stations were stopped. However, we can only guess.
Under this home extension programme, the rural people were rather comfortable and healthy in their live style, earning regular incomes weekly. If that was the trend, then they could not succumb easily to the bribery temptation of the Barisan Nasional during election times. Bribe them they would reject the offer.
But now poverty has set in, and Dayaks particularly the Ibans have suddenly become the poorest in the country. Bribe them with RM10, they will gladly take it and vote for the Barisan Nasional candidates.
We should not only welcome the move to revive the 18 stations, but also urge Jabu to re-introduce the home economics and bring back home demonstrators.
At least this will give our Dayak girls the opportunity to work in the agriculture sector and to minimize it (Agriculture Department) being controlled by one race as of now as well as to practise 1Malaysia concept in the department.- The Broken Shield.
Source: www.thebrokenshield.blogspot.com
This includes the stations in Tarat, Serian and Layar, Sibiew (Bintulu) and Punang (Lawas).
Staff from the agricultural department would be deployed to all the stations.
“Reviving the agriculture stations is meant to complement the government’s effort to help the rural populace. There is a need to revive them to develop the agriculture sector,” he said.
Besides reviving the 18 stations, the government had decided to build another three such stations, said Jabu, who is also the minister of modernisation of agriculture.
He did not give reasons why the agricultural stations were closed.
These stations became the training ground for our rural people to be “efficient” farmers in terms of rearing chickens, ducks, goats, cows and fish and of planting padi, pepper, cocoa, fruit trees and vegetables, and of teaching the women folk home economics – to look after their families, sewing, cake-making, handicraft, and so on and so on.
Under this agriculture home extension programme, home demonstrators from the agriculture department visited the rural villages and longhouses weekly or monthly to ensure that their programmes went on smoothly. Agriculture officers were also sent to ensure that the pepper vines, cocoa, rubber trees, fruit trees and their chickens and herds were always healthy.
Suddenly all these stopped. Why? And the man who stopped all these was Adenan Satem, who then became agriculture minister. He took over from Daniel Tajem after the Ming Court affair in March 1987.
All the staff members from these stations were pulled back to agricultural offices. The home demonstrators were absorbed into normal staff. We did not know the reasons why all the stations were stopped. However, we can only guess.
Under this home extension programme, the rural people were rather comfortable and healthy in their live style, earning regular incomes weekly. If that was the trend, then they could not succumb easily to the bribery temptation of the Barisan Nasional during election times. Bribe them they would reject the offer.
But now poverty has set in, and Dayaks particularly the Ibans have suddenly become the poorest in the country. Bribe them with RM10, they will gladly take it and vote for the Barisan Nasional candidates.
We should not only welcome the move to revive the 18 stations, but also urge Jabu to re-introduce the home economics and bring back home demonstrators.
At least this will give our Dayak girls the opportunity to work in the agriculture sector and to minimize it (Agriculture Department) being controlled by one race as of now as well as to practise 1Malaysia concept in the department.- The Broken Shield.
Source: www.thebrokenshield.blogspot.com
