We’ll pay for quarantine, says palm oil grouping
Published on: Tuesday, October 27, 2020
By: FMT
.jpg "We’ll pay for quarantine, says palm oil grouping")
The Malaysian Palm Oil Association has proposed to the government to give double taxation relief to all those who implement mechanisation in the industry.
Kuala Lumpur: The Malaysian Palm Oil Association (MPOA) said oil palm plantation owners are willing to absorb all Covid-19 quarantine charges imposed by the government to overcome the current labour shortage, which is causing a 25pc loss in palm oil yield.“We are willing to pay for the quarantine charges and we will adhere to all the SOPs to be introduced by the government.
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“But please allow all workers who went back on leave to return back here,” its chief executive Mohd Nageeb Abdul Wahab said on TV3’s Money Matters talk show.
He said the association is proposing three items in its Budget 2021 wishlist to safeguard the wellbeing of the oil palm industry, the welfare of one million smallholders and improve the country’s revenue from the agriculture sector.
He was previously reported as saying that the industry was facing a shortage of 36,000 workers even before the Covid-19 pandemic hit the country.
Malaysia, the world’s second largest palm oil producer, relies on workers from countries such as Indonesia and Bangladesh. They account for 84pc of its plantation workforce. When the pandemic struck and borders began to close, thousands of foreign workers left the palm oil estates to return to their respective countries. MPOA said the sector had not been able to replace those who had left.
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As for the second wish, MPOA wants the government to unfreeze the recruitment of foreign labour, saying that the ban could lead to the demise of the industry.
“The industry requires more people, namely for the harvesting operation. With the current CPO price trading at almost RM3,000 per tonne, if we are not employing workers, what are we going to do?”
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The third wish he said, is for the government to give double taxation relief for all who implement mechanisation in the industry. When asked on the CPO average price for the rest of 2020, Nageeb said the commodity would be trading between RM2,500 and RM2,600 per tonne as compared to RM2,000 per tonne last year.
“The CPO price has been reasonably good this year. Comparing with last year, the increase is quite significant. Moving into the first half next year, price gurus are even more bullish for CPO as they expect La Nina will occur, hence reducing crop production.
“So it’s not all doom and gloom for the palm oil industry,” he added.
MPOA has 122 members, including large local plantation companies such as IOI Corp, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, Sime Darby Plantation and FGV Holdings Bhd.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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