MARKET DEVELOPMENT
Oil Palm Plantations: Certified Planters Needed to Safeguard Environmentally Responsible Practices
Oil Palm Plantations: Certified Planters Needed to Safeguard Environmentally Responsible Practices
03/11/2016 (New Straits Times) - The Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certification, currently a voluntary scheme for planters to adopt environmentally responsible practices, will produce more professional planters if it becomes mandatory.
Incorporated Society of Planters chairman Datuk Daud Amatzin said he believes practical changes will manifest when the MSPO becomes a law.
Daud said the certification would compel planters to be responsible for maintaining the quality of the surrounding environment.
He said the case of effluent discharge into the rivers in Selangor which resulted in water supply disruption was a serious matter that cannot be taken lightly.
“When the MSPO certification becomes mandatory, we will have certified planters. There also needs to be a change of mindset among planters.
There should be no gender bias and entry qualification needs to be regulated,” Daud said at a press conference here today after the launch of the two-day International Plantation Industry Conference and Exhibition (IPICEx2016).
The biennial event is jointly organised by the International Institute of Plantation Management (IIPM) and Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Malacca.
However, Daud, who is also deputy president of IIPM, thinks that the implementation of MSPO will be a problem as 76 per cent of the 5,000 oil palm estates in the country are located in rural areas.
On a separate matter, Daud said that senior planters are highly sought after overseas, namely in Indonesia and Africa.
“Senior planters can command a salary of USD10,000 (RM41,895) per month,” he said, adding that Kenya and the Ivory Coast, both in Africa, offer lucrative pay for plantation veterans.
“Malaysia is a successful model and we have the best plantation management,” he said, adding that the country is also one of the major exporters of palm oil.
Incorporated Society of Planters chairman Datuk Daud Amatzin said he believes practical changes will manifest when the MSPO becomes a law.
Daud said the certification would compel planters to be responsible for maintaining the quality of the surrounding environment.
He said the case of effluent discharge into the rivers in Selangor which resulted in water supply disruption was a serious matter that cannot be taken lightly.
“When the MSPO certification becomes mandatory, we will have certified planters. There also needs to be a change of mindset among planters.
There should be no gender bias and entry qualification needs to be regulated,” Daud said at a press conference here today after the launch of the two-day International Plantation Industry Conference and Exhibition (IPICEx2016).
The biennial event is jointly organised by the International Institute of Plantation Management (IIPM) and Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Malacca.
However, Daud, who is also deputy president of IIPM, thinks that the implementation of MSPO will be a problem as 76 per cent of the 5,000 oil palm estates in the country are located in rural areas.
On a separate matter, Daud said that senior planters are highly sought after overseas, namely in Indonesia and Africa.
“Senior planters can command a salary of USD10,000 (RM41,895) per month,” he said, adding that Kenya and the Ivory Coast, both in Africa, offer lucrative pay for plantation veterans.
“Malaysia is a successful model and we have the best plantation management,” he said, adding that the country is also one of the major exporters of palm oil.