KUCHING, April 1 — Julau Member of Parliament Larry Sng said his tenure as chairman of the Malaysian Pepper Board (MPB) was terminated by the federal Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities effective today.

 He said he received a letter from the ministry informing him of this.

"As of today, I am no longer the board’s chairman,” he said in a statement posted on his Facebook page.

"The move was expected and I am happy to say that it was a pleasure working with all members of the board and staff at MPB.

"I wish everyone at MPB all the very best in these challenging times,” he said, hoping that his replacement will uplift the price of pepper and benefit the growers better than he could.

"Nonetheless, I will monitor the development of pepper closely as most of the growers are from my constituency of Julau.

He also offered his apologies for any mistakes he made while serving as the chairman.

Sng, who is also the new elected Sarawak PKR chief, was appointed the chairman of the pepper board soon after Pakatan Harapan (PH) won the general election in May 2018.