KUCHING: The Sarawak Oil Palm Plantation Owners Association (Soppoa) fully supports the call by Primary Industries Minister for factual information on the palm oil industry of Malaysia to be disseminated to students.
This came about following a stage show by some students which incorrectly depicted orang utans as being threatened by oil palm growers in the country.
Soppoa said foremost, orang utan habitats in Malaysia are fully protected by laws in both Sabah and Sarawak (the only places where orang utans live).
In fact, Sarawak sets aside 6 million hectares for Permanent Forest Reserves, 1 million hectares for Totally Protected Areas and 84,000 hectares specifically for orang utan conservation areas, it disclosed.
“It is the right of people to state their views but these should not contain lies and unfounded information especially against the palm oil industry of the country; as such it is only right that the government has taken the initiative to provide factual information on the palm oil industry to schools and for public consumption” Soppoa added.
Soppoa suggested that the government limit the total area of oil palm to 6.5 million hectares to ensure that the state’s lush green landscape would be protected.
This means that there will be no large expansion of oil palm in Malaysia. More importantly, Malaysian palm oil industry is to be fully certified under the MSPO (Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil) certification by December 2019 which means that Malaysian palm oil is sustainably produced and certified.
Soppoa said critics should make an effort to visit Malaysia and see for themselves the lush greenery all over the country and the natural habitats where wild orang utans roam freely with all the other living creatures of the forests.
The palm oil industry in Malaysia is an important economic sector, providing income to thousands of smallholders as well as over 600,000 people directly and indirectly employed in the industry.
“For those who cared enough to find out the truths, including local based NGOs, they can easily get these facts from various ministries and agencies in Malaysia through their websites. Stop relying on hearsay by irresponsible NGOs,” Soppoa advised.
The association asked that the Education Ministry in collaboration with the Primary Industries Ministry and related agencies to provide factual information on industry to students throughout the country.
