Oil Palm industry – the catalyst of rural devt

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KUCHING: Throughout the history of Sarawak, no single industry has uplifted rural communities economically in the state faster than the oil palm industry.

This was stated by the Sarawak Oil Palm Plantation Owners Association in its statement yesterday.

“The oil palm industry is the catalyst of change in rural areas, bringing infrastructures, employment and new livelihoods and inspirations to the local people.

“Oil palm cultivation started in 1970s in rural settlements; the industry has since grown to

about 1.6 million hectares today and still is heavily concentrated in rural areas.

“ The growth of this sustainable industry has impacted almost every sector of the state’s economy like no other industry had,” said the press statement.

The association said when oil palm cultivation on large scale began in late 80s in Sarawak, many were skeptical of its success, given the remote locations of the estates, poor road connectivity, lack of amenities like piped water, electricity and the difficulty in sourcing for workers.

Almost every other crop initiated by the Agriculture Department for rural areas before the introduction of oil palm had failed to alleviate the poverty and achieve economic development in rural areas and the new crop was also expected to fail.

Undeterred, the oil palm pioneers pushed ahead with massive borrowings from financial institutions to start up the industry with support from the state government through the issuance of licences to open up land. The rural areas on condition that these were logged over land or former rubber or coconut plantations.

“As can be seen from the oil palm industry’s success in Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah, the industry in Sarawak is now slowly emerging as a major contributor to the state’s economy,” said the association.

The oil palm industry direct sales tax imposed by the state on palm oil export from Sarawak has surpassed RM2 billion last year.

However, Sarawak’s main challenge is getting workers. Foreign workers are still very much needed in the oil palm industry here, especially for harvesting and Indonesian workers

(currently the only approved source country for oil palm industry migrant labour force in Sarawak) are still considered best adapted for the job.

The spin-off of the palm oil industry has stimulated the local economies of small rural towns where the estates, mills and offices of companies are located

The oil palm industry in Sarawak in its short history has already spurred tremendous developments directly and indirectly in the rural towns and communities.

The opening up of these rural towns and areas has brought in infrastructures that enable the children to catch up with their urban counterparts through the availability of digital connectivity and other modern facilities.