KUCHING: Sarawak Oil Palm Plantation Owners Association (Soppoa) is calling on its members to continue tightening movements at estates and mills in view of the surge in Covid-19 infections in districts across the state.
SOPPOA chief executive officer Andrew Cheng warned members of the dire consequences should the pandemic spread to estates and mills in Sarawak which would affect work operations, due to the inevitable temporary shutdown in affected locations as required by the authorities.
“Make no mistake, the Covid-19 virus threat is real, dangerous and is contagious.
“Some other industries in Malaysia have been forced to close down operations due to workers getting infected and we do not want the same to happen here in Sarawak for the palm oil industry,” he said in a statement yesterday, whilst acknowledging there was an isolated incident in an estate in Bintulu.
He also welcomed the recent stakeholders discussion and plans chaired by Modernisation of Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development Ministry permanent secretary Edwin Abit, who made surprise assessment visits at estates and mills in the state to check compliance with Covid-19 prevention standard operating procedures (SOP) which have been strictly implemented since March 2020.
Cheng added that Soppoa has worked closely with the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) since the Movement Control Order was imposed in March last year.
“Plantations have continued to maintain strict controls to ensure that workers in estates and mills are not exposed to the virus threat, by restricting movements in and out of estates and mills including self-lockdown during work operations.
“Through our few meetings with the state authorities, Residents, agro-commodity representatives, Malaysian Palm Oil Board and federal agencies recently on the Covid-19 preventive measures in the plantation industry in Sarawak, we welcome the decision by the SDMC to conduct Covid-19 preventive SOP compliance checks and recommendations at our estates and mills on the operations, to ensure that all precautions have been taken to keep workers safe and protected at all times.
“Soppoa is most appreciative of the efforts of the state authorities to maintain the health and safety of the public through implementation of movement restrictions in various districts and towns, which has lessened or eliminated the chance of the virus being able to spread further,” said Cheng.