Association: Some of points in swiflet farming guidelines unfair Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2012/10/30/association-some-of-points in swiflet farming guidelines unfair

Sabah & Sarawak is facing the same problem as reported.

SANDAKAN: The Sabah Swiftlet Farming Association (SSFA) believes that some points of the 15 guidelines introduced by the Wildlife Department came abruptly and might have been overblown.

In a meeting between the Sabah Bird’s Nest Industry Association (Saba) and SSFA, both presidents, Datu Faisal Datu Bachtiyal and Yap Chen Guan briefed their members on the issue that might affect a large number of swiftlet farmers in Sabah.

About 50 farmers attended the meeting.There are currently over 4,000 swiftlet houses in Sabah, and according to Yap, 80 per cent of those houses are located within the restricted areas mentioned in the guidelines.
Both parties agreed that the two-year time frame to move swiftlet houses was too short and would result in losses for farmers, especially those who just stepped into the industry.

“Two years are too short. Many farmers have taken a 15-year loan for nurturing the swiftlets and harvesting their nests. These include houses in Sandakan municipality,” said Yap.

Yap and Faisal contended that swiftlet farming provides plenty of benefits to Sabah’s socio-economy and but the former felt that some points raised in the guidelines were an imposition rather than an outline for regulation.
Other issues such as bird house locations and recording of bird activities, which include death and population were also raised.

However, both parties felt that most of the guidelines were acceptable and Faisal believed an understanding between the government and swiftlet farmers is imperative and needed to work out a solution that will satisfy farmers and the government.

Mat Saha of Syarikat Gerak Borneo, Saba’s consultancy, said the issues had been discussed extensively and they came up with several suggestions to improve the guidelines.

“The government needs to be more flexible on this. They have to understand that some of us (in the industry) have been around for a long time. We also provide royalties to the government through taxes.
“As for the recording of birds, we leave it up to the government. We can open the industry to students for research. This will also benefit our socio-economy,” said Mat.

He added that the guidelines issue and those involving international trading would be brought up at a National Swiftlet Conference in Kuala Lumpur towards end of November which will be officiated by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

Meanwhile, a meeting between swiftlet farmer associations across Sabah will be held on Nov 1 in Kota Kinabalu to address the guidelines issue.


Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2012/10/30/association-some-of-points-in-swiflet-farming-guidelines-unfair/#ixzz2AmaS6rDV