Ministry to send second appeal letter to Sabah

Kuala Lumpur: The Plantation Industries and Commodity Ministry will send a second appeal letter to Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal asking him to let the oil palm farmers and manufacturers to continue operating during the Movement Control Order (MCO) period.

Its Minister Datuk Dr Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali said the appeal letter, representing the agricultural and manufacturing sectors operating in the state, would be sent as soon as Friday or today (Saturday).

“We understand the purpose of the closure but based on our experience in the peninsula, there have been no positive cases of Covid-19 since the beginning of the MCO as the farmers and manufacturers have adopted very stringent standard operating procedures (SOPs). We can give the Sabah Government assurance that if, given the opportunity to operate, other than one farm involved in the Covid-19 positive case, we guarantee that there will be no spread of the virus in their area,” he said.

Dr Mohd Khairuddin said this during a special interview session for Bernama News Channel’s “Ruang Bicara” programme here Thursday night.

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Kota Kinabalu: The Sabah Government continued its momentum in managing the economy in line with the commitment and spirit of the Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ) when it posted record high state revenue of RM6.973 billion last year.

The Sabah State Government has announced the temporary closure of all palm oil mills and plantations in three districts namely Tawau, Lahad Datu and Kinabatangan until April 14 following the Covid-19 outbreak. The decision has affected about 100,000 workers and 75 per cent of palm oil production in Sabah, the country’s largest producer of the commodity.

The Malaysian Palm Oil Association and the Malaysian Plantation Owners Association have also expressed their concerns over the suspension of oil palm plantations including the operation of palm oil mills in the three districts.

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They urged the State Government to allow industry players to continue with important and critical operations such as harvesting, crop transfer and manufacturing.

The Kuala Nerus MP added that the strict SOP for farms and factories along with social education in the workplace would allow workers to move within their own scope of work without giving exposure of infection to other areas.

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