A villager, Mohd Amin Yaakob, said upon his return to his village, he noticed most of the villagers had lost their income source as 90% of them worked as rubber tappers and received daily wages.
He said it was sad to see the villagers struggling to obtain food.
He said the situation worsened as children who worked to help their parents could not work during the MCO.
“Those who worked as farm truck drivers can’t work any more, so they all stay at home. Those who have returned from universities also have no income to sustain themselves.
“As the MCO has restricted movement, villagers can’t move far.
“Some of them have farms close to home, but now rubber prices have dropped to RM1.50 a kg from RM3. The rainy weather has also affected their income,” he told FMT.
Amin, who is a teacher at a primary school in Section 13, Shah Alam, said prior to the MCO, the villagers could not harvest the padi as Kedah had faced a drought season for over five months.
“Last month was supposed to be the padi harvest season. At least, that could have supported their income.
“However, Kedah faced a five-month drought and there were no crops for them to harvest at all.”
Amin said the convenience store in the village was still operating but no one came to buy things as the people had no money.
Yesterday, the government announced that the MCO, which came into effect on March 18, had been extended by another 14 days until April 28 to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
Amin said since the MCO started, he had been donating daily essentials to the villagers through his own NGO.
However, he only had limited funds.
Amin said he could only provide daily necessities such as rice, sugar, cooking oil and coffee, worth RM20, for each family.
“My village has 500 people. So far, I can only provide aid for 100 people.”
Amin said he had received donations through his family and friends but hoped to get more to help more villagers.
Anyone who wants to help can donate to the Pertubuhan Kebajikan Sayang Care Padang Terap, Agrobank account (No: 1005061000040029), or call Amin at 013-531-0916.