Manufacturers Aid Malaysian Growers

Source from:  tobaccoreporter.com 12/29/2005

RM50 million provided by Malaysia's three major tobacco manufacturers will be used by the government to aid tobacco growers who suffered major weather-related losses between the late 1990s and 2001, according to a report on Tobacco China Online. In all, 240 of the 300 growers in the four states of Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah and Perlis were affected by a string of seasons characterized by either far too much or far too little rain. "Some of them had mortgaged their land and the money owed to the banks keeps accumulating because of interest," the National Tobacco Board chairman, Mohd Zain Ismail, was quoted as saying. "We are asking the bank to reduce the interest as we want to settle it in one lump sum." Mohd Zain said incentive payments would also be given to the remaining 60 tobacco growers who were unaffected by the calamities. "We began paying them two weeks ago in appreciation of their contributions to the tobacco industry," he added. Enditem