Make oil palm harvester a specialist position, says Johari Ghani
14/03/2024 (New Straits Times), Kuala Lumpur - The post of oil palm harvester should be made a specialist job to attract Malaysian youths, the Dewan Rakyat heard today.
Plantation and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani said the ministry had started a pilot "specialised harvester" course with 60 students.
"They enter technical and vocational education training colleges, then we send them to palm oil plantations to teach them how to harvest oil palm fruit.
"Then, they are taught the first three steps of oil palm harvesting, which are how to identify ripe oil palm fruit, how to cut palm fronds, and how to cut off the fruit bunches," he said in his ministry's winding up speech on the royal address debate in Parliament today.
He said Malaysia was short of oil palm harvesters, and relied heavily on foreign labourers, when it was a specialised job.
"We try to attract the interests of locals, especially youths, to see harvesting as a unique and specialised profession."
Johari added that the remaining steps in oil palm harvesting could be done by foreign workers or by mechanisation.
These steps include loading the fruit bunches onto the lorry, collecting loose fruit, and transporting the fruit to the factories.