30/04/2015 (Bernama) - Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) strongly opposing the recruitment of foreign workers for the state oil palm sector should identify those locals who are willing to work and comply with the regimented schedule of plantation work.

Sarawak Land Development Minister Tan Sri Dr James Masing said plantation owners would be more than willing to employ them.

"The reality is that we need to employ foreign workers as we have insufficient workers in the sector which is one of the most important revenue earners for the state," he said in his ministry's winding-up speech at the state legislative assembly sitting here Wednesday.

Last year the sales tax collected from the production of 3.4 million ton of crude palm oil (CPO) was RM428 million from the planted area of 1.28 million hectares.

He said many locals employed by the planations were unable to comply with the regimented work schedule required in the industry.

"Not many are able to work the maximun number of working days in a month. Many will only want to work for four to five hours a day after which they will attend to their other activities," he said.

Such culture, according to him, was definitely not suitable for plantation operations.

No planters would want to employ unproductive workers who were also unable to follow the work schedule set by the plantation, he said.

Masing said although the Malaysian government had signed an agreement with the Bangladeshi government in December last year to recruit workers from the country, so far the state had yet to employ any of them yet.

"In fact the state government is still closely monitoring the performance of such workers in the peninsula," he said.