MALAYSIAN PALM OIL BOARDS
KUCHING: There seems to be no substantial presence of representatives from planting associations of East Malaysia in the vital federal palm oil boards, a local body pointed out.
Keeping the Sarawak Oil Palm Plantations Owners Association (Soppoa) out of the federal Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) and Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) for the term 2020-2022 will not bring any benefit to plantations in Sarawak or Malaysia.
“There is no significant presence of East Malaysian planting associations representatives in these two decision-making boards for this sector,” Soppoa said in a statement yesterday.
“This will render the MPOB and MPOC bodies to appear filled up with council members, but in reality, they are not fully represented in the absence of the established plantation associations from East Malaysia and lacking judicial stakeholder’s quorum for important decision-making for the country’s second biggest economy and revenue for the government,” stressed Soppoa in the statement.
According to the association, the fully integrated oil plantation and farmers of Sarawak accounted for almost 30 percent of the total oil palm planted land hectarage in Malaysia, or more than 58 percent if combined with Sabah.
They pointed out that Peninsular Malaysia plantations only accounted for less than 50 percent of estates, mills, and refineries, but they were appointed in these councils’ seats while the sizable East Malaysian plantation factor was eliminated.
Soppoa said that it was also widely known that oil palms grown in Sarawak, the growth frontier of the palm oil industry in Malaysia, performed differently than other states due to their low yields, low oil extraction rate (OER), pests and diseases, nutrition, peat soil, planting materials, rough terrains, high rainfalls, and logistic issues.
“A voice from Sarawak in these councils will be pertinent and timely to address these important issues affecting the growth and sustainability of the industry in Sarawak.”
Meanwhile, they said that government duties, levies, and taxes from the palm oil industry in Sarawak were efficiently collected without delay, but several appeals to the authorities for representatives in these boards were not responded to in good faith.
“Soppoa is still waiting to be allocated seats in MPOB and MPOC, which previously were provided by the federal government in 2012 to 2018, as inclusive councils.”
They said that Soppoa was still a strong partner of the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities and its agencies.
In addition, being the main oil palm plantation association in Sarawak, the association is one of the major contributors to the government’s revenue, running into hundreds of millions of ringgits a year even during current Covid-19 pandemic.
“(Soppoa) is much aggrieved by such unreasonable omissions to these boards.”
Soppoa said that until this major grievance was rectified, there might even be a need for this disparity to be further addressed to Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin for his guidance.
“The other alternative left is for Soppoa to propose to the state government to form Sarawak’s own board with similar roles and support functions and utilising the Ministry of Finance’s financial resources collected from duties, taxes, cess, and levies contributed by the Sarawak palm oil industry if no further development is made in relation to the appointment of representatives to MPOB and MPOC,” the statement concluded.
