JOHOR POLLS | Incumbent Paloh assemblyperson Sheikh Omar Ali has fired back at a challenger from BN who claimed that the fall of the Pakatan Harapan administration had led to higher palm oil prices.
In a statement today, Sheikh Omar said soaring palm oil prices was caused by Indonesia's decision to cut palm oil exports to focus on domestic consumption, particularly for bio-diesel.
"Apart from the Indonesia factor, the lack of workers (in Malaysia) had caused a reduction in palm oil production, which already resulted in price increases.
"If (my opponent) Lee Ting Han wants to help palm oil growers in Johor, especially in Paloh, he should be asking the government to resolve labour woes and not be issuing ignorant statements," said Sheikh Omar.
Sheikh Omar, a former Johor cabinet member, said there are other factors that affect commodity prices as well, such as supply problems due to the Covid-19 pandemic, weather and others.
Lee, in an interview with Utusan Malaysia, blamed the previous Harapan administration for low palm oil prices during their time, arguing that their handling of a foreign boycott was poor.
He claimed that when BN's Hishammuddin Hussein took over as foreign minister, palm oil prices recovered.
Global palm oil prices have been trending down since 2011 before reaching a low of around US$450 (RM1,890) per ton in 2018 following a growing campaign in Europe against palm oil over environmental concerns.
Malaysia and Indonesia produce 90 percent of the world's palm oil - the most common edible oil. Crude palm oil (CPO) prices averaged at RM4,430 per tonne in 2021, up from RM2,781 per tonne in 2020.
The contest for Paloh is a four-way fight between Harapan, BN, PN and Pejuang.
Campaigning for the Johor polls kicked off on Feb 26. Johoreans will go to the polls on March 12. - Mkini
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