Govt silence on palm oil price drop causing jitters

The government is accused of just waiting for things to happen rather than plotting new strategies to benefit smallholders.

RANAU: The plummeting price of Sabah’s main commodity – palm oil – has made government leaders vulnerable to criticism from the opposition for failing to address the issue

Jalibin Paidi, a state committee member of State Reform Party (Star) is the latest to take to task both the federal and state governments for not taking any concrete step to alleviate the situation that threatened to push thousands of smallholders back into the poverty bracket.

Days ago, Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) president, Yong Teck Lee, highlighted the issue during a visit to the east coast of the state.

Planters and smallholders on the east coast are anxious about their golden crop, the source of an economic boom after it replaced timber as one of the state’s top earners, after demand for the commodity failed to keep up with production.

Jalibin, a former secondary school principal who is set to face the Barisan Nasional in Ranau, said it was astounding that government leaders were silent on such an important issue.

“I for one am very concerned that thousands of our palm oil smallholders in Sabah are now in difficulty with the steady drop in prices recently.

“Crude palm oil used to fetch more than RM500 per metric tonne but now it stands only at RM300 per tonne.

“Smallholders who produced two-tonnes previously and earn more than RM1,000 a month are now only earning RM600 under current prices,” he said.

“This has affected thousands of smallholders in Sabah, but it seems the federal government is mute on this matter. Can the Federal Plantation Minister, Bernard Dompok enlighten us on the causes please?” Jalibin asked.

He said the Plantation Ministry appeared to be just waiting for things to happen rather than plotting new strategies.

“So far there the ministry has done nothing to alleviate or mitigate the situation. For the record, Dompok not so long ago made an assurance that the government would take relevant steps to avoid the price of palm oil from dropping below RM500 per metric tonne, but look it is only RM300 per tonne now,” Jalibin said.

Stop giving false hope
With the ever-increasing cost of production, including labour and fertilisers, many Sabah smallholders could eventually well fall into the category of abject poverty if they are unable to sell their produce at a profit.

Those who have had depended on their small plots of land to make ends meet are in an even worse position.

Jalibin said Dompok and Ranau Umno leader Masidi Manjun should address the plight of smallholders in Ranau who are complaining that bad roads are compounding the problem of reaching far-away fruit collection centres.

He said that while prices of commodities like palm oil might not be entirely controllable, there should be at least some mitigating steps taken by the authorities.

“Otherwise next time please don’t promise this and that the government will ensure prices would not drop below RM500 per tonne as this is tantamount to giving hope that the government could control certain things when in fact it is just a false hope or “Janji Tidak Ditepati”,” he added.