Deputy Plantation and Commodities Minister Hamzah Zainuddin has dismissed reports that his minister Bernard Dompok had ‘lied’ about the low wages given to workers in the plantation sector.

"We ask the person who had issued the statement to withdraw it. The minister had never issued such a false statement," said Hamzah.

Hamzah was referring to a report carried by Malaysiakini and another Internet news portal on oil palm plantation and rubber bernard dompok 230109estate workers who were dissatisfied over Dompok (left) saying in Parliament recently that these workers were earning enough to be placed above the poverty line.

"It is a blatant lie and it has been going on for a long time [...] the fact is misleading and confusing," Plantation Workers Support Group Coordinator M Sugumaran had said when asked to comment on Dompok’s statement.

The group is a subsidiary to the labour rights movement, Jerit, and following the minister’s alleged statement, a press conference was called by Sungai Siput MP Dr D Jeyakumar who is from Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM).

A group of plantation workers had even come to Parliament last week to protest over the matter. Dompok's response in Parliament on Oct 19 was in answer to a question from Mas Gading BN MP, Dr Tiki Lafe.

Dompok had said the net income of an oil palm harvester was about RM1,700 while that of a rubber tapper's was around RM870 a month.

Joint salary above RM1,200

Malaysiakini had published two pay slips of plantation workers which showed that they were earning below the poverty line which is set at RM720 a month.

Hamzah, upset over statements from representatives of the plantation workers, asked for the news report to be retracted.

He claimed that this had to be done ‘as its objective was to ruin the dignity of the government and his ministry in particular’.

Hamzah (right) said a probe was done on the persons of whose pay slips were published and it was discovered that they were women who hamzah zainuddinwere employed as common workers at an oil palm plantation in Sungai Siput. They earned RM21.30 per day.

"Usually, common workers are women who are involved in fertilising and removing weeds (in the plantations). Mostly, they are wives of workers employed for other duties.

"Generally, the accumulated salary of both husband and wife is more than RM1,200 a month, which is above the poverty line," said Hamzah.

According to him, oil palm fruit harvesters earn from RM26 to RM60 a day, depending on their productivity.

The wages, he said, were based on the 'productivity-linked wage system' (PLWS) which was adopted in the collective agreement between the Malayan Agricultural Producers Association (Mapa) and the National Union of Plantation Workers (NUPW).

‘It is not a lie’

"At the level of crude palm oil being priced at RM1,200 per tonne, when a harvester produces 38 tonnes a month, he will get RM844.

"At the level of crude palm oil being priced at RM2,000 per tonne, the harvester's income is RM1,292.16 a month," said Hamzah.

Therefore, that it was not ‘an impossible task and it is not a lie’ to say that an oil palm plantation worker could earn up to RM1,700 a month.

"Especially workers who are productive and are able to produce three tonne bunches of oil palm fruits a day or 78 tonne of bunches of oil palm fruits a month," said Hamzah.

Jeyakumar could not be contacted for comments at press time.