Entri ( seated in the background) chairing the dialogue with land owners , longhouse chiefs and community leaders on the
proposed Sungai Laong Oil Palm Refinery Mill.

13/03/2014 (Borneo Post) - Sarawak Farmers Organisation (SFO) will take the lead to implement the proposed oil palm mill project in Sungai Laong, Bakong.

Landowners and private investors would be invited to take up stakes in the initiative that came about following claims by smallholders in Marudi that they had been short-changed by unscrupulous businessmen, said Marudi assemblyman Datuk Sylvester Entri Entri Muran.

He told reporters covering his dialogue with land owners at his service centre yesterday that oil palm smallholders had been victims of collection centres, which offered them low prices and suspicious weighing techniques of fresh fruit bunches.

“Landowners can either take compensation or invest in Sungai Laong Oil Palm Refinery Mill as shareholders.”

He explained to those present that the project would be sited on native customary land in Sungai Laong, and before it could take off it needed the Land and Survey Department to demarcate the land for the mill and access road, and for the State Planning Authority (SPA) to give its nod.

“Experienced players in oil palm mills will be identified and invited to participate in this project.”

Sylvester, who is also a National Farmers Organisation (NAFAS) executive committee member, said lessons from Peninsular Malaysia would be used as a guide for local farmers in Marudi to boost their income.

“This proposed project could result in economic spin-offs for the local community,” he said, adding that the mill was targeting smallholders in the Tinjar-Bakong region.