3/10/06 (Sun Star)  -  ZAMBOANGA Sibugay is eyeing to become the center of oil palm industry in Zamboanga Peninsula having at least 113,000 hectares open for investors to develop oil palm plantations.

The oil palm industry project is being implemented by the Sibugay Land Resource Development Corporation (SLRDC), a consortium of local government unit and non-government organizations in the province, which aims to partner and lure foreign inventors to put up agri-business in Zamboanga Sibugay.
SLRDC's President Bennet D. Santander said, in addition to the 113, 000 hectares, the group, with the help of the Philippine Coconut Authority and the Bureau of Plant Industry, has also identified at least 73 hectares for nursery that will serve as the seed bank of oil palm seeds, which will supply not only in Zamboanga Sibugay, but to the entire Peninsula.

He said the plan of becoming the center of oil palm industry in Zamboanga Peninsula was an offshoot during the formulation of the Oil Palm Development Roadmap for Mindanao that was agreed by different oil palm growers and government agencies during the consultation meeting held in Davao City late last year.

Santander, who is also the provincial economic planning officer, said the group is initially planning to develop, at least, 4,000 hectares for oil palm plantation to jumpstart the project within three years, which is set to start this year.

He said the group has already sealed an agreement with the Sandakan, Malaysia-based Agriculturist Incorporated to develop the initial 4,000 hectares for oil palm plantations, which is expected to bring P1 billion worth of investment package in their province.

"The initial 4,000-hectare joint venture project will jumpstart the oil palm industry in Zamboanga Sibugay," he said during a two-day workshop which aims to develop the flagship projects of the Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines,-East Asean Growth Area's (BIMP-EAGA) here over the weekend.

He said the P1 billion worth of investment will fund the initial establishment of oil palm mill, a 40-hectare oil palm nursery station, fertilizers, and other infrastructures for the initial 4,000-hectare oil palm plantation.

The group is targeting this year to import at least 1 million oil palm seeds from Malaysia because of its quality compared to the oil palm seeds from Indonesia.

However, he said with the existing ban on exportation of oil palm seeds in Malaysia has become the stumbling block for the development of the project.

Santander said they have already presented the proposal to lift the ban during the Bimp-Eaga's top officials Third Natural Resource Development Cluster meeting last August in Palawan, but this was subjected to further discussion in the upcoming 14th Bimp-Eaga's Senior Minister Officials Meeting, which will be held on the first week of November in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.

Oil palm is one of the four flagship projects under the BIMP-EAGA's Action Plan 2006-2010. Others include Halal chicken production, seaweeds, and the virgin coconut oil, according to the officials of the Bimp-Eaga Business Council.

Santander expressed confident that the Malaysian government would grant them a partial lifting of the existing ban, this came after the Palm Oil Industrial Cluster (POIC)--the biggest downstream palm oil industry in Malaysia -expressed need of raw crude palm oil and palm kernel.(DTW)