Rubber Issue To Dominate Manik Urai?

The plight of rubber smallholders and tappers is expected to be among the issues to dominate the Manik Urai by-election campaign which starts on Monday.

Issues at the state and national levels like the demand on oil royalty and logging in the forest reserves are not expected to have a big impact on the 12,293 voters in this state constituency.

This is because 80 per cent of the 30,000 residents of Manik Urai, especially those in the Malay villages along the Kuala Krai-Gua Musang stretch depend on rubber for their livelihood.

"As the Perakians say, we have to 'lara' (follow the current) with local issues which are close to the people's hearts. In the case of Manik Urai, priority must be given to rubber as many of the people here are rubber smallholders and tappers," said political analyst Prof Dr Ahmad Atory Hussein.

Manik Urai, about 110km from Kota Baharu, is categorised as rural with Jalan Kuala Krai-Gua Musang being the main link between Kuala Krai in the north and Gua Musang in the south.

This state constituency in the Kuala Krai district also comes under the purview of the South Kelantan Development Authority (Kesedar) and Rubber Industry Smallholders Development Authority (Risda) which focus on the rubber and palm oil industry.

Risda projects like the replanting scheme with assistance given in the form of capital and expertise are considerations for the locals, except for the over 1,000 voters living outside the area or state.

The Malay villages with their rubber holdings like Kampung Bukit Budu in Manik Urai have not been on the public radar except perhaps for the Lata Rek waterfalls, which is popular with people in the state that has been under PAS rule since 1990.

But Manik Urai will grab national attention tomorrow with the nomination of candidates for the by-election which is expected to see a straight contest between Kuala Krai Umno Youth head Tuan Aziz Tuan Mat, 39, and Kuala Krai PAS treasurer Fauzi Abdullah, 50.

Tuan Aziz is a former Kesedar officer while Fauzi is a fish wholesaler.

The nominaton of candidates will be held at Dewan Petra, SMK Sultan Yahya Petra 1, Kuala Krai, tomorrow morning and polling will be on July 14. The by-election is held following the death of the incumbent assemblyman Ismail Yaakob on May 22.

The rubber issue has also taken centre stage after PAS supporters mocked Umno information chief Ahmad Maslan following pictures of him tapping rubber trees in Kampung Bukit Budu and Perial Baru appeared in the media.

But Ahmad, the son of a rubber tapper in Sungai Benut, Pontian, Johor, said his action was not just political acting but to empathise with the problems faced by Manik Urai folk.

From his observation of things in the area, Ahmad suggested that Kesedar and Risda fix the income distribution at 60 per cent for the owners of the rubber smallholdings and 40 per cent for the tappers, who are mostly Thais. Previously, it was 50-50.

"In Temalir I saw the towkay (rubber holding owner) riding a Honda Cub (motorcycle), but the hired rubber tapper was driving a Honda Accord. This is not right," he said.

Ahmad also said that Umno would promote Kelantan Umno liaison chief Datuk Mustapa Mohamed, who is also International Trade and Industry Minister, as an icon especially for the people of Kelantan.

He said if PAS spiritual leader and Kelantan Menteri Besar Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat was highly regarded by many people, Mustapa too could be an icon due to his vast experience at the national level and his services to the country and state.

"I think there's no problem with this strategy (icon versus icon). Politicians have their own strategies. Ultimately, the people will evaluate and make their choice," said political analyst Assoc Prof Dr Mohammad Agus Yusoff.

However, he said, the politics of idolising individuals should be avoided as what was more important was service to the people.

"The party's machinery must be strong too. Whatever strategies you use will not get you anywhere if the party machinery is weak," added the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia political science lecturer.