Palmnut cracker

26/03/2012 (The Nation) - Cross River State is popular for its oil palm plantations and palm oil production. The business, however, became moribund. To revive the sector, the Governor, Liyel Imoke, has embarked on a privatisation drive, from which about 5,000 jobs are expected, reports DUPE OLAOYE-OSINKOLU.

The Southsouth states are noted for their interest in crude oil and petroleum products’ business. One of the states, Cross River, is, however, an exception as it forays into another area.

Known for its outstanding feats in traditional businesses, such as arts and crafts and tourism, the state has just created 5,000 jobs in mechanised palm oil mills.

The government-owned medium-scale oil palm business, somehow, collapsed before the advent of this administration. The state has one of the largest oil palm plantations in the country. To revive and improve upon the oil palm business, Governor Liyel Imoke invited the private sector to partner with the government under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) deal to re-establish the oil mill. It has gone from medium-scale to large industrial mill.

The revival began with the government calling for bids from interested firms. Five companies indicated interest in the palm oil refinery. It was won by Wilmar International, a big consortium in the oil palm business.

The company has turned the Calaro Oil Palm Estate into a big industrial arena, with about 5,000 workforce from inception.  As the business progresses, there will be room for more employment, the Special Assistant, Media/Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Omini Oden, said  in a telephone interview with The Nation.

He said the host community witnessed the signing of the agreement and they endorsed what the Governor is doing, adding that the bidding involving the five companies was open and transparent. The oil palm plant occupies about 50 hectares of land.

Large-scale plants, reflecting the various stages of growth required to produce palm oil to international standards are in place. The state is, therefore, setting the pace in the conversion of crude palm oil to refined cooking oil, he said.

Omini added that besides jobs creation in the community which covers handling of palmnut bunches, harvesting, processing, packaging and transportation, the government ensured more benefit for the community through the award of scholarships to their children and payment of royalty to the community. This, he said, would enable it establish schools and health care centres, among other modern amenities.

One of the community leaders, Chief Celestine Awor, commended the government for reviving the oil mill, saying the community would co-operate with the government to ensure the success of the palm oil refinery.

The venture, Omini explained, is in fulfilment of promises made by the governor earlier, in which he committed to creating about 7,000 jobs in the state through the establishment of an palm oil refinery.

Assuring his people and those residing in the state of jobs while featuring in a Cross River Broadcasting Corporation (CRBC) radio programme tagged “Two hours with the Governor”, Imoke said a foreign investor had indicated interest to set up the processing plant that would refine palm oil into vegetable oil and other edibles, adding that the establishment of the refinery was in line with the commitment of his administration to ensuring food security and creating jobs.

He said the plant would occupy more than 50 hectares of land, stating that efforts to mechanise and improve traditional manual procedures led his administration into partnership with a private sector engineering company.

“I saw the company that will come and put this refinery in place in Singapore. In one location alone, the company employed 16,000 people, meaning that if it is here in the state, it will engage as many as 7,000 Cross Riverians, thereby reducing drastically, our unemployment rate.

“The state is blessed with agricultural produce; all we need to do, at this point in time, is to ensure that they are converted into industrial purposes rather than just leaving them for household and immediate use; we need to think of tomorrow,” the Imoke stated.

For Cross River, the job creation also affects other areas of its economy. The governor also said he has laid the foundation stone of Portside Industrial Park at Esuk Utang in Calabar, where activities are currently taking place.

He praised the commitment of the private sector in complementing the industrialisation efforts of the government, adding that partnership with the private sector would ginger confidence in the system.

Imoke said the private sector has already invested N800 million in the portside project at a time the government was yet to make any financial commitment on it.

He solicited the co-operation of the people in regulating the activities of tank farm operators at the industrial areas, adding that orderliness must be introduced to the system to promote investment.