From right: Teresa, Madius, Hong, Ravi and Amrullah pouring ‘Red Palm Oil’ to mark the launch of ‘Sayangi Sawitku’ (Love My Palm Oil) campaign at Teck Guan Cocoa Village yesterday.
TAWAU: Primary Industries Minister Teresa Kok has called on big oil palm companies to help smallholders in obtaining the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certification to counter accusations that Malaysia palm oil plantations are causing deforestation.
She said the government was committed to ensure the country’s oil palm industry development fulfils the certification stipulated by importing countries.
Teresa said operators of oil palm estates which are 100 acres (40.47 hectares) and above are required to have the MSPO certification effective this year.
The Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) would be withdrawing the licence of operators who failed to comply with the matter, she said during the Sabah level ‘Sayangi Sawitku’ (Love My Palm Oil) campaign.
The event, held at Teck Guan Cocoa Village yesterday, was launched by Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Wilfred Madius Tangau, who represented Chief Minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal. Also present at the event were Plantation and Commodities deputy secretary general Ravi Muthayah, Tawau Municipal Council president Datuk Hj Amrullah Hj Kamal and Teck Guan Group executive chairman Datuk Hong Ngit Ming.
“The MSPO certification is important to ensure oil palm operators carry out good agriculture practices and are responsible towards the environment and protection of social rights according to country’s laws and regulations, and international sustainability standards,” she said.
Teresa said that as of February 21 this year, 4.42 million hectares or 78.8 percent of the 5.9 million hectares of oil palm plantations in Malaysia had acquired the MSPO certification, while 390 of the 452 oil palm mills in Malaysia have also acquired the certification.
For Sabah, she said a total of 1.17 million hectares were MSPO certified, including 30.745 hectares operated by smallholders.
Teresa said the government is projecting a rise in crude palm oil price this year following the implementation of the B20 biodiesel.
“The performance of commodity which was tepid since 2018, has started to show positive signs with palm oil prices surpassing RM3,013.50 a tonne in January this year,” she said.
The minister said the “Sayangi Sawitku” campaign was started in 2019 with the aim to instill pride in the country’s oil palm industry, apart from creating awareness and educating the people on the goodness and the nutritional value of palm oil.
She said she was happy that a private company such as Teck Guan Group had cooperated with the government to give exposure, especially to the Tawau community, on the advantages of oil palm and the contribution of the industry to the country.
Teresa said the industry accounts for 3.5 percent of the country’s gross domestic product in 2019 and RM64.8 billion export earnings while providing two million jobs, as well as supporting the livelihoods of half a million smallholders.
She said the government had set policies to limit the total area of oil palm to 6.5 million hectares, stop oil palm cultivation on peat lands and tighten regulations on existing oil palm cultivation in peat lands, prohibit conversion of forest reserves to oil palm cultivation, and provide coconut cultivation map oil palm for public access.
These efforts are a guarantee of the government’s commitment in proving that the Malaysian palm oil industry is sustainable, compliant with international standards and should not be the subject of negative perceptions and accusations.