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Soppoa Wants Recruitment of Foreign Workers For Oil Palm Industry to be Faster, Easier
Soppoa Wants Recruitment of Foreign Workers For Oil Palm Industry to be Faster, Easier
11/10/2017 (Borneo Post) - Sarawak Oil Palm Plantation Owners Association (Soppoa) voiced its concern on labour shortage and requested better management and procedures in recruiting foreign labourers for the industry here.
“We urge the government to implement policies that enable the industry to continue growing and contributing to the economy,” said Soppoa in its press statement yesterday.
Soppoa said currently only Indonesian workers are allowed to work in the palm oil industry here, which restricts the choice of estates sourcing for estate workers from other countries.
“It revealed that based on industry estimates, the palm oil industry in Sarawak is short of about 70,000 workers, and this shortage will worsen as the palm trees mature and more NCR lands are planted in the coming years.
Soppoa commented that present processes in recruitment of Indonesian workers for the industry are slow, costly and unable to meet the expectations of the industry, weakening its competitive edge.
“Furthermore, the restrictions and tightening of procedures imposed by the Indonesian government in allowing workers to come to Malaysia has hampered the recruitment and caused a drop in number of new arrivals.
Soppoa said it had asked for a government-to-government agreement for the smooth supply of workers to the state’s palm oil industry to benefit all parties involved.
Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong had in a recent interview by a local daily newspaper commented that the palm oil industry in Malaysia should brace for foreign labour shortage in the coming years as oil palm plantations in Indonesia are opening up employment opportunities for their inhabitants.
“As stated by Datuk Seri Mah in his interview, locals are reluctant to work in the palm oil industry, made worse by the low population in Sarawak,” Soppoa said.
It added that despite various efforts to prioritise locals for work in the palm oil industry here, they are still reluctant to work in the estates where jobs are viewed as dirty and difficult.
“Another reason for the declining number of Indonesian workers coming to work here is the depreciating Malaysian ringgit which erodes the earning power of the workers,” it said.
“There are also many cases of workers returning to Indonesia after their contracts expire, which exacerbates the labour shortage in the industry.”
Soppoa urged the government to consider sourcing workers from other countries to ease the dire shortage here.
“Another step is to legalise and re-hire illegal workers already working in the industry here. This will provide pools of illegal workers an avenue to obtain legal status.
“Presently, Indonesian workers can only work until 45 years old and Soppoa has asked for extension of this age limit to reduce the shortage. Extending the age limit to 55 years will allow the industry to keep workers with the necessary experience and skill.
“Earlier, the state government proposed a lab to look into procedures on employment of foreign workers for the industry to include representatives from Employment Labour Department Sarawak, Immigration Department Sarawak and relevant agencies and stakeholders involved in the recruitment processes.”
Soppoa supports this initiative to bring about more efficient and cost-effective ways to recruit workers for the industry.
It is committed to explore mechanisation to reduce dependence on migrant labour but this takes time, and so far there is still no machine that can effectively replace man when it comes to harvesting.
“We urge the government to implement policies that enable the industry to continue growing and contributing to the economy,” said Soppoa in its press statement yesterday.
Soppoa said currently only Indonesian workers are allowed to work in the palm oil industry here, which restricts the choice of estates sourcing for estate workers from other countries.
“It revealed that based on industry estimates, the palm oil industry in Sarawak is short of about 70,000 workers, and this shortage will worsen as the palm trees mature and more NCR lands are planted in the coming years.
Soppoa commented that present processes in recruitment of Indonesian workers for the industry are slow, costly and unable to meet the expectations of the industry, weakening its competitive edge.
“Furthermore, the restrictions and tightening of procedures imposed by the Indonesian government in allowing workers to come to Malaysia has hampered the recruitment and caused a drop in number of new arrivals.
Soppoa said it had asked for a government-to-government agreement for the smooth supply of workers to the state’s palm oil industry to benefit all parties involved.
Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong had in a recent interview by a local daily newspaper commented that the palm oil industry in Malaysia should brace for foreign labour shortage in the coming years as oil palm plantations in Indonesia are opening up employment opportunities for their inhabitants.
“As stated by Datuk Seri Mah in his interview, locals are reluctant to work in the palm oil industry, made worse by the low population in Sarawak,” Soppoa said.
It added that despite various efforts to prioritise locals for work in the palm oil industry here, they are still reluctant to work in the estates where jobs are viewed as dirty and difficult.
“Another reason for the declining number of Indonesian workers coming to work here is the depreciating Malaysian ringgit which erodes the earning power of the workers,” it said.
“There are also many cases of workers returning to Indonesia after their contracts expire, which exacerbates the labour shortage in the industry.”
Soppoa urged the government to consider sourcing workers from other countries to ease the dire shortage here.
“Another step is to legalise and re-hire illegal workers already working in the industry here. This will provide pools of illegal workers an avenue to obtain legal status.
“Presently, Indonesian workers can only work until 45 years old and Soppoa has asked for extension of this age limit to reduce the shortage. Extending the age limit to 55 years will allow the industry to keep workers with the necessary experience and skill.
“Earlier, the state government proposed a lab to look into procedures on employment of foreign workers for the industry to include representatives from Employment Labour Department Sarawak, Immigration Department Sarawak and relevant agencies and stakeholders involved in the recruitment processes.”
Soppoa supports this initiative to bring about more efficient and cost-effective ways to recruit workers for the industry.
It is committed to explore mechanisation to reduce dependence on migrant labour but this takes time, and so far there is still no machine that can effectively replace man when it comes to harvesting.