Malaysia will start the construction of rubberised roads all over the country this year in order to increase domestic rubber consumption, according to Malaysia’s Plantation Industries and Commodities Ministry.
Its minister, Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong, said the move would help shore up the commodity, which has been battered by falling prices. “We need to support our smallholders, who might otherwise shift away from natural rubber due to weak prices,” he said in a press conference.
Mah said his ministry has been directed to build rubberised roads within the next few months by Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri NajibRazak, who is concerned over the livelihoods of the rakyat, particularly, smallholders.
There are about 1.2 million smallholders in the country (550,000 smallholders in the palm oil industry, 440,000 in the rubber industry and 60,000 in the pepper industry), Mah said.
The Plantation Industries and Commodities Ministrywill be working hand-in-hand with the International Trade and Industry Ministry to ensure good prices and sustainable demand for rubber, palm oil and other commodities, as per the prime minister’s directive.
“We understand that it is an expensive exercise for the ministry to continue giving subsidies, hence we must increase the demand for rubber,” he added.
Although the initial cost of building the rubberised roads may be 16% higher than normal roads, Mah said maintenance costs in the long run would be cheaper. Besides that, he said rubberised roads are more durable and could bear heavier loads.
He said they have been doing research on rubberised roads over the last three years and so far, things are good.
“(The Prime Minister) said we must build the rubberised roads in small towns and certain parts of (major) highways. The main purpose is to ensure that our 440,000 rubber smallholders have sustainable demand,” he added.
Mah also said that the roads will be made using rubber cup lumps, or naturally-coagulated latex, which will be processed into bituminous cup lumps and then mixed into asphalt.
They are still in the process of identifying the exact stretches of roads to be upgraded, Mah added.