Tuesday, April 01, 2003 (The star) - PRIMARY Industries Minister DatukSeri Dr Lim Keng Yaik has advised those in the palm oil industry tominimise risk by devoting 10% to 20% of their land to planting rubbertrees.He was quoted by China Press as saying that the cyclical pattern ofcommodity prices made it necessary for planters to spread the risk bygrowing several types of crops.He said he was disappointed that his earlier advice had not been heeded bythe industry and this had led to the wholesale conversion of the country’srubber estates into oil palm plantations, reported the daily.He reminded oil palm plantations of the painful experience two years agowhen palm oil prices fell to an all-time low.“Palm oil prices fell as low as RM700 a tonne before climbing to RM1,300last year and RM1,600 this year,” he said.According to Dr Lim, the country’s 3.6 million hectares of oil palmplantations provided 315,000 jobs and earned the country RM28.3bil.Sin Chew Daily carried an article on Works Minister Datuk Seri S. SamyVellu saying he had instructed PLUS to immediately call off an operationto flag down lorries suspected of not paying toll.Perak state executive councillor Datuk Ong Ka Chuan said Samy Vellu hadconveyed this instruction to the PLUS chairman at a highway upgradingproject ceremony in Lumut on Saturday, said the paper.Nanyang Siang Pau carried an article quoting MCA president Datuk Seri DrLing Liong Sik as saying that following the Perak government's show ofsupport for Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, another state had offered 810hato the university.Dr Ling did not name the state but said he would disclose the matter whendetails on the donation had been worked out, the daily said.He said in Sungai Siput on Sunday that Utar received overwhelming supportfrom the Chinese, Malay and Indian communities and the Government.He said the 525ha allocated by Perak for a premium of RM800,000, theRM50mil launching grant for the university approved by Prime MinisterDatuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad and the land offer by Johor were clearsigns of public support for the university.