Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 6): The Malaysian Palm Oil Association (MPOA), which estimated RM20 billion in revenue losses for the oil palm plantation sector following harvester shortages, said the foreign workers approved for the sector translated into only 19% of the total required in 2022.

MPOA chief executive Joseph Tek Choon Yee, citing a recent MPOA survey on foreign workers from January to November 2022 among its top 10 planter members in Malaysia, said the numbers of foreign workers coming in are still far from an earlier estimate of over 120,000 workers required to address the present shortages of workers in the oil palm plantation sector.

He said as of Nov 30, 14,159 foreign workers had been recruited and had entered Malaysia.

The foreign workers for the plantation sector came from Indonesia (6,837), India (6,532), Nepal (730) and Bangladesh (60).

Tek said these represented 49% (14,159 entered / 28,724 approved) of the foreign workers approved by the authorities but they were merely 19% (14,159 entered / 74,664 required) of the total foreign workers required in 2022.

"The plantation sector acknowledges the efforts and stride made by the various government agencies thus far, which include solving domestic glitches at our receiving end and the formation of the one-stop centre of Foreign Workers Division under the [Ministry of Human Resources].

"However, bottleneck issues still persist at the various source countries and also including [at the point of arrival]. In many instances, final processes involved in the recruitment are beyond the capacity of most industry players towards expediting the arrival of the large numbers of foreign workers," he added.

Tek in his keynote briefing at the National Labour Forum said the association is looking to "proactively engage with the government on the matters relating to labour and other human resource imperatives affecting the plantation sector".

MPOA represents about 70% of the privately owned oil palm-planted areas, which make up about 40% of the total planted oil palm areas in Malaysia. Its members include major plantation companies such as Sime Darby Plantation Bhd, FGV Holdings Bhd, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd and IOI Corp Bhd.

The forum, themed "Mitigating Challenges on the Imperatives of Workforce in Plantation Sector", was attended by over 200 participants including MPOA members, invitees from the industry and stakeholder speakers from the various government agencies and other service providers involved in the recruitment and return of foreign workers to Malaysia and human resource requirements for the plantation sector.

In addition to the slow return of the foreign workers, the forum also deliberated on matters relating to HRDC levy, multi-tier levy system, mechanisation and the proposed foreign workers' card in Sabah.

Tek said therefore a renewed and effective government-to-government engagement is important to expedite arrival of the foreign workers.

Additionally, he said there is the need for the relevant authorities to review the recruitment of foreign workers based on sectoral differentiation.

"The recruitment processes involved could be expedited by drawing and using the national sustainability certification that is already in place, the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil as the legal framework for reference," he added.

Tek said another equally important aspect is that all mitigation measures and due process relating to zero recruitment fees, potential forced labour risks must also be put in place and the compliances adhered to.

"Logistic issues including the chartering of planes will also need to be addressed.

"There is much work to be pursued to ensure adequate labour force and all the other human resource matters relating to the plantation sector so that the industry can play its full role in supporting a stronger economic recovery," he added.

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