13/02/2012 (Borneo Post) - The Sarawak plantation industry needs more labourers and managers in order to achieve the targeted two million hectares of cash crops by 2020.

Land Development Minister Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing said the industry was currently plagued by two key problems.

“It requires a lot of workers, but we have a shortage of labourers. In certain companies, 90 per cent of their workers are from outside. This is a serious matter, and the industry cannot afford to rely on foreign labour,” he said at the annual dinner of The Incorporated Society of Planters (ISP) South Sarawak Branch on Saturday.

He urged the public and private sectors to put their heads together to come up with the best solutions to solve the labour shortage problems and also proposed new harvesting methods.

Since its establishment in 1994, ISP South Sarawak Branch has grown tremendously, with the views of its members reflecting the voice of the plantation industry.

Masing also asked the south, central and north Sarawak Branches of ISP to establish more institutions to train people for plantation management positions.

“It’s not good enough to increase the number of labourers. You got to have people to come in to manage the plantation properly so that we can maximise productivity,” he said, adding that his ministry was willing to assist.

Meanwhile, ISP chief executive Azizan Abdullah said that the industry raked in revenue of RM80 billion nationwide from oil palm and related products last year. This figure is the highest ever recorded for Malaysia.

“Under the National Key Economic Area (NKEA), the government is pressing for a revenue of RM175 billion from the oil palm industry by the year 2020,” he said, adding that planted areas in Sarawak had increased by 24 per cent in the last five years.

As of the end of last year, Sarawak has 1.02 million hectares of oil palms planted, out of the five million hectares in the country, Azizan said.

Also present at the dinner were ISP South Sarawak Branch chairman Ismadi Ismail and organising chairman Aaron Pelangi Dato.