PEOPLE’S CARAVAN FOR FOOD SOVEREIGNTY IN ITS 2^ND DAY

Visit: www.panap.net/caravan for more information and pictures

 

People’s Caravan 2004 Arrives in Teluk Intan, Malaysia.

About 200 plantation workers, who participated in the People's Caravan, an internationally-linked event promoting land and food rights around Asia this month took the stage and said a firm "no' to pesticides.

The workers, who hailed from palm oil estates in Teluk Intan district, carried banners saying "Women Say No to Pesticides" vowing to tell their family and friends to stay away from poisons that have ill-effects on their bodies and lives.

Mostly  sprayers, the women claimed that since working in the plantations, their health had badly deteriorated while their daily income had remained stagnant.

Malathi, 39, a single mother of three school-going children, said she was determined to tell her sprayer friends that there was "life after the plantation".

"What is the point of risking my life in the plantations when I earn hardly enough to feed my children and to have to go on buying medicines for my sickness," said Malathi, who had since left her spraying job after developing itchiness on her hands and legs.

"I had sores on my skin, my eyes hurt, I had aches on my back, knees and leg, but when I go to see the doctor, all he does is give me painkillers," she told the audience, who packed the community hall at a village in Hutan Melintang.

In Malaysia, there are reportedly 30,000 plantation workers. Seventy percent of them are believed to be suffering from eye problems, skin irritation and other complications due to exposure to pesticides.

On an average, it is learnt that sprayers carry a four gallon steel tank, between 16 to 20 times daily. Their daily income averages RM16.00 (USD4.20). Most are contract workers with no employment contract or health insurance. 

Meanwhile, another former sprayer, Radha, 45, also a single mother of four grown-up children, urged women to leave the plantation sector and learn skills that can help them become financially independent.

"We can learn sewing or cooking skills, or even learn how to use a computer, and get better jobs than what we have in the plantations," she said, when met after the event.

Radha, who resigned after an accident in the plantation, where she injured her right arm, now lives on a meagre sum of money which she receives from the Social Security Organisation (SOCSO).

"Women must not feel ashamed anymore. There are many people out there who are willing to help us, we just need to respond to their call," she added, referring to non-governmental organisations who have reached out to bring awareness on the dangers of pesticides such as paraquat on the health and lives of plantation workers."

Participants also depicted their struggles as plantation workers suffering from the effects of pesticide poisoning, with song, dance and skit performances for the guests.

Also present at the event was Pesticide Action Network Asia Pacific (PAN AP) Executive Director Sarojeni V. Rengam, Tenaganita Director Irene Fernandez, Asia Pacific Research Network Chairperson Antonio Tujan Jr., All Nepal Peasants Association Chairperson Bamdev Gautam and Secretary General Prem Prasad Dangal.

Expressing solidarity with the participants,  Dangal said in his speech that agriculture workers toiled endless days and nights in their fields and yet "they were landless people".

"They have no rights to their land and their products. They are poor and have not enough money to purchase these resources," he said.

"The landlords live in towns and cities, most have not set eyes on their lands, and yet the land is theirs," he added.

"These are the reasons why we choose the issue of food sovereignty. Peasants and farmers grow food for the world to eat, yet still most of them are poor and hungry".

The Caravan, which was launched on August 31, Malaysia’s Independence Day will move on to visit an Orang Asli (Indigenous People) community in Pulau Carey today. The Caravan will go to 13 countries in Asia and three in Europe before culminating in Nepal at the end of the month.

 

PAN - Asia and the Pacific
P.O. Box 1170,10850 Penang, Malaysia   
Tel:604-6570271/6560381 Fax:604-6583960
Web: www.panap.net
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For 30 days in September this year, the People's Caravan for Food Sovereignty
will hold simultaneous resistance and solidarity actions in 13 Asian countries.
Be part of the journey. Join and support the People's Caravan. www.panap.net/caravan

PAN - Asia and the Pacific
P.O. Box 1170,10850 Penang, Malaysia   
Tel:604-6570271/6560381 Fax:604-6583960
Web: www.panap.net