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Give farmers land to battle food crisis
Malaysian Socialist Party - June 4, 2008
Syed Jaymal Zahiid – Giving farmers their own land is one way of addressing the escalating global food crisis, said Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM).
This was one of the issues in the 21-point resolution passed by the yet-to-be registered political party at its 10th congress in Port Dickson over the weekend.
PSM urged Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat, which controls five states, to provide land for farmers to cultivate food crops instead of profit-oriented cash crops.
"One of the problems for the poor in the context of the food crisis is the fact that the land they cultivate are temporary and developed only for profits.
"From time to time, these poor farmers will be evicted and they will have no avenue to cultivate subsisting agriculture and this must change," said PSM pro-tem secretary-general S Arutchelvan when contacted.
He predicted that the food crisis will be a "decade-long crisis" and the poor will be the most affected.
"That is why we have to introduce radical measures to ensure that food supply can either be cultivated by the poor or that the government can ensure that they will not suffer from supply shortages."
The resolution also contained other demands on ways to eradicate the food crisis.
Governmental controls over the prices of goods, the passing of a Minimum Wage Act, the revival of the Green Book programme and use of the organic farming system of socialist-oriented Cuba as a model are the other three proposals.
Abolish toll
PSM also reminded the Pakatan government to fulfil its pre-election promises of abolishing toll charges.
"The Pakatan government can introduce drastic measures that are sure to be popular among the people like abolishing toll and providing free education up to tertiary level. The BN government will have no option but to follow if it wishes to remain relevant," said Arutchelvan.
Other points in the resolution include a demand for vernacular language to be implemented in the teaching of science and mathematics, a stop to the privatisation of education and healthcare services, and judicial reform.
PSM reiterated its position in asking both the BN and Pakatan governments to reinstate local government elections and to abolish all detention-without-trial laws like the Internal Security Act and the Emergency Ordinance.
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