Oil Palm Cultivation Is Reforestration, Planters' Seminar Told

Bernama 14 Jun 13;

SIBU, June 24 (Bernama) -- Oil palm plantation is reforestration and not the deforestration of tropical rainforest in both Malaysia and Indonesia as perceived by Western environmental non-governmental organisations (WENGOs), says Sarawak Plantation Bhd chairman Datuk Amar Hamed Sepawi.

"These WENGOs are out to demonise the use of oil palm in the market.

"They create their own environmental criteria to influence their governments to restrict giving financial aid/financing to developing tropical countries keen to plant oil palm," he said in his paper at the 10th Institude of Society of Planters national seminar here.

Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud declared open the three-day seminar today attended by about 1,000 participants nationwide.

Hamed said oil palm only covers 4.5 per cent of Indonesia's land mass and 15 per cent in Malaysia, adding oil palm is a major contributor to socio-economic development especially in alleviating poverty in the tropics.

"These actions by WENGOs are becoming a worrying trend.

"They are becoming prosecutor and judge at the same time by banning, restricting and imposing trade barriers.

"Western nations are using their NGOs' arguments and negative campaigns as a basis for developing policies against importation of palm oil.

"The NGOs are also challenging WTO regulation for fairness in free trade," he said.

Hamed said the Malaysian and Indonesian governments should present their counterparts in the EU and USA comprehensive facts and scientific evidence to counter the WENGOs' negative publicity.

He said the industry in both countries has existed for over 100 years with some planters in their third or fourth cycle of planting.

"Over the years Good Management Practices (GMPs) and standard operating procedures have been developed and practised to ensure sustainability of the industry.

"There is no doubt in our minds the industry will continue to be sustainable in the forseeable future," he said.

He also said oil palm is a very important strategic crop and continues to contribute very significantly to the social and economic development in both countries.

He noted the palm oil organisations in the country like MPIC, MPOB and PORAM as well as the Indonesian Palm Oil Commission (IPOC) have worked very closely together by developing Good Agriculture Practices (GAP) to promote sustainable oil palm production.

With the world population projected to grow to nine billion in 2043 from seven billion in 2011 there will be a corresponding increase in demand for land for the production of oils and fats, with severe competition for arable land worldwide, he added.

To meet this demand, he said, soya bean would need 15 million hectares a year while oil palm would only need 1.5 million hectares.

Hamed said Malaysia has only planted 4.5 million hectares of oil palm, adding the vocal WENGOs are from countries where almost 90 per cent of the land has been deforested and 60 per cent actually used for agriculture.

"This development contributes to their GDP of US$50,000 per year as compared to our GPD at US$9,000 and Indonesia at US$3,000.

"It is obvious that the developed countries have achieved their present prosperity through the deforestration of their forests.

"Today they are pressing the developing countries not to cut their forests which essentially means they do not want them to achieve economic growth, prosperity and affluence," he said.

-- BERNAMA

'Malaysian oil palm firms not at fault'
News Straits Times 25 Jun 13;

SMALLHOLDERS TO BLAME: Our planters in Indonesia adhere to RSPO, says association

JAKARTA: MALAYSIAN companies are not at fault for clearing land in Indonesia using fire, which has been causing the haze that is affecting Singapore and parts of Malaysia, says the Association of Plantation Investors of Malaysia in Indonesia (Apimi).

Apimi executive secretary Nor Hazlan Abdul Mutalib said open burning in oil palm plantations owned by Malaysian companies in Indonesia was carried out by local smallholders in the land allocated to them.

"Plantation owners have to set aside 20 per cent of their land to nurture smallholders in oil palm planting. It is common practice for the smallholders to clear the land using fire," he said yesterday.

Nor Hazlan was commenting on Indonesian Environment Minister Balthasar Kambuaya's statement that eight Malaysian-owned companies were among 14 companies being investigated for the burning in Riau province, which had led to the haze.

Nor Hazlan said plantation companies did not have the power to curtail open burning carried out by smallholders and could only report the matter to the local authorities.

"However, when open burning occurs, plantation companies will render assistance to the local authorities to stop the fire from spreading."

Denying that the eight companies named by Balthasar were owned by Malaysians, Nor Hazlan said Malaysian plantation companies in Indonesia were members of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), which prohibits open burning in replanting exercises and puts emphasis on environmental and eco-friendly farming practices.

"If they are found to be involved in open burning, the RSPO certificate will be withdrawn.

"This certificate is very important to the companies because without it, they cannot sell palm oil to the European market."

Nor Hazlan said RSPO members were compelled to adhere to felling and cleaning practices using tractors in replanting activities, while cut palm fronds were reused as fertiliser.

No replanting activities were carried out by Malaysian companies this year, he added.

He said Apimi issued reminders to members at the beginning of each year and recommended steps that could be taken in case of accidental fire occurring in the plantations. Bernama

Eight Malaysian-owned firms under Indonesian haze probe
The Star 25 Jun 13;

THIS week all eyes will be on how Indonesia and Malaysia, the world's top two largest crude palm oil (CPO) producers, deftly tackle the issue on haze currently polluting the air over Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.

The crux of the thick smoke haze problem is the rampant open burning in Riau and Jambi, Sumatra carried out by planters to make way for new planting and replanting of oil palm.

While Malaysia had openly criticised Indonesia for its land-clearing method via the rampant “slash and burn” for oil palm cultivation, Indonesia then retaliated by claiming that the culprits for the open-burning were mostly subsidiaries of Malaysia-based plantation companies.

Generally, over 50% of oil palm plantations in Sumatra, Kalimantan and Sulawesi belongs to Malaysian planters either via long-term concession or joint ventures.

To stop the finger-pointing, Datuk Seri G. Palanivel, the newly appointed Environment and Natural Resources Minister will be in Jakarta tomorrow to meet representatives of Malaysian-owned plantations there and, also hold discussion with Indonesia's Environment Minister Balthasar Kambuaya.

Balthasar announced late last week that 14 companies had been identified and were being probed for open burning.

Of the total, eight are Malaysia-owned namely PT Langgam Inti Hiberida, PT Bumi Rakksa Sejati, PT Tunggal Mitra Plantation (PTTMP), PT Udaya Loh Dinawi, PT Adei Plantation, PT Jatim Jaya Perkasa, PT Multi Gambut Industri and PT Mustika Agro Lestari.

It is believed that PTTMP is a unit of Minamas Plantation which is a subsidiary of Sime Darby Bhd while PT Adei Plantation is a unit of Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd (KLK).

Hence, when the issue of open burning is linked to Malaysia's top plantation giants like Sime and KLK, one may wonder on the practice of “zero-burning” policy which are widely advocated among major local plantation companies.

In fact, zero-burning oil palm replanting technique was first introduced commercially by Sime Darby as far back as 1985.

Since then, zero burning has been made compulsory for all oil palm replanting activities in Malaysia through legislation whereby the traditional way of establishing new oil palm plantations or replanting via burning of old oil palm biomass are strictly prohibited.

The Government has also imposed a ban on open burning in 1998 and offenders will have to pay a maximum fine of up to RM500,000.

However, while Malaysian planters may strictly abide by the open burning ban here given the hefty penalty, some observers say there exist some “irresponsible” local planters who tend to overlook the zero-burning policy especially when their estates are located deep in the jungles of Kalimantan or Sumatra with minimal supervision from the relevant authorities.

On the other hand, both Sime Darby and KLK had reiterated on their strict practice of zero-burning policy.

Sime Darby while acknowledging the fact that its PTTMP concession area is one of the many hotspots identified but it is unable to exert control over the activities of local communities beyond its operating areas.

In Indonesia, it is quite common among farmers between June and September to undertake open burning for oil palm replanting at their small estate holdings, which are often adjacent to estates owned by big plantation companies.

Deputy news editor Hanim Adnan who misses the clear blue sky, hopes the Government will soon carry out cloud-seeding to clear the haze.