Vegetable Prices Set to Soar After Exodus of Illegals

JOHOR BARU - Consumers, including those in Singapore, will have to brace themselves for increases of 30 per cent or more in vegetable prices as the farm sector faces a labour shortage after the recent mass exodus of illegal foreign workers.

Many farms were left unattended and matured crops were not harvested due to the acute labour shortage. Supply had plunged by 40 per cent and was expected to drop further, said Johor Baru Vegetable Wholesalers Association chairman Yeo Hang Pin.

'Prices of produce such as sawi, long beans, kangkung and lettuce increased by 30 per cent this week and the worst is yet to come,' he said.

'We estimate that supply dropped 40 per cent this week and whatever supply we are getting now was the produce generated before the mass departure of the illegals.

'We believe the shortage will become worse next month as some farmers have already stopped shipment due to the lack of manpower. The prices will rocket.'

Vegetable supplies from here are exported to places including Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

The Kulai Vegetable Farmers Association said that at least 4,000 workers had left since July.

Its chairman, Mr Tan Bak Looi, said many farmers depended on illegal workers because whenever they applied for foreign workers, they did not get the number of workers they asked for.

'When we apply for 100 workers, we get approval for only 30. We have no idea how the authorities come up with the land scale-manpower ratio. When we cannot cope with the workload, we have to turn to the illegals. But we always prefer legal workers - there is not that much of a difference in the cost,' he said.

In nearby Bukit Kempas, where about 100 vegetable farms are located, weeds have taken over many empty plots.

Farmer Tay Kim Kai, 46, said he was left with only three workers to help him attend to his 8-ha farm.

'I can only manage to harvest some 10 baskets of produce a day although the normal output is 30 baskets a day. Most of the matured crops have gone to waste because we cannot harvest them in time,' he said.

'If there is no quick solution to the labour shortage, I will be forced out of business as I still have to pay the monthly rental for the land and my clients will look elsewhere for their supplies.'

State Agriculture Committee chairman Othman Jais said officers would gauge the seriousness of the labour shortage problem. But he warned vegetable sellers not to take the opportunity to raise prices.

Officials said more than 320,000 illegal immigrants had left Malaysia during the four-month amnesty.

The construction industry, which relied heavily on illegal foreign workers, was also badly hit. Thousands of hawkers and petty traders may also have to close shop.