KUCHING: Human Resources Minister, Dato Sri (Dr) Richard Riot’s recent statement on roping in Cambodians to overcome the labour shortage in the palm oil industry in Sarawak is most welcomed by the industry here. SOPPOA (Sarawak Oil Palm Plantation Owners Association) concurs with the Minister’s statement that the industry in the state is in dire need of at least 30,000 workers, mainly harvesters and general workers and the opening up of other nationals to the industry is timely.
The palm oil industry fully recognises the contributions by Indonesians workers who have been the only source of labourers for the industry here for over forty years and as more of them now prefer to stay and work in their own country, the number of Indonesians workers coming has greatly reduced.
“The industry will continue to work closely with our Indonesian counterparts in the industry on the labour issues as their contributions are still the core for the industry in Sarawak,” said a SOPPOA spokesperson. “Naturally, the industry is also very happy and pleased to note that the Human Resources Ministry is trying to find ways to bring Cambodians and other nationalities to work here as stated.
Over on our part, the industry is continuing its pursuit of mechanisation as a means to reduce dependency on workers but these will mainly be in the areas of evacuation of FFBs (fresh fruit bunches) from the estates.
Based on experience of the palm oil industry so far, Indonesian workers are best suited to carry out the physically demanding field works, especially FFB harvesting and evacuation,” he continued.
SOPPOA has also made appeals to the state government on the opening up of the palm oil sector in Sarawak for other nationalities to overcome the shortage of workers and is hopeful for such a breakthrough. It is also noted that not only the large estates face shortage of workers; the smallholders too also face similar problem for their plots, especially harvesters and general workers.
As informed by the minister, due to the shortages of workers in the industry here, about RM2 billion a year will go to waste in Sarawak and this will only continue to rise as the industry continues to grow in the coming years.
SOPPOA looks forward to see positive development from the Human Resources Ministry’s efforts to address the workers shortage issues in the palm oil industry in Sarawak and appeals to the state government to consider opening up of the sector to other nationalities in the near future for the smooth development of the industry.
