Malaysiakini has furnished Plantation and Commodities Minister Johari Abdul Ghani’s office with a list of new oil palm plantation projects approved by the Department of Environment (DOE) which involve deforestation after 2020.
The minister had requested the information during a press conference where he stated that after 2020, oil palm plantations have been disallowed in forested areas.
In 2017, the government agreed to implement the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certification on a mandatory basis, which prohibits the conversion of natural forests to oil palm plantations after Dec 31, 2019.
However, in a special report last month, Malaysiakini revealed that the DOE approved at least seven new oil palm plantation projects covering an area of 14,244 hectares or equivalent to half the size of Penang Island.
When this was highlighted to the minister, he asked for the list. The details were submitted yesterday.
“This issue involves state governments.
“Give me the list and state which states are involved and I will go and meet the chief minister or menteri besar to explain to them (that these palm fruits cannot be sold),” Johari said.
Earlier, the minister, when met after opening a biodiversity forum in Genting Highlands, said if the forests were cleared before 2020, then nothing could prevent switching from other crops to oil palm plantations.
“But if you clear the land after 2020 and plant oil palms, we cannot accept that practice. You also won’t obtain the operating license from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB),” he added.
When informed that these projects had obtained the DOE’s approval, Johari replied: “You can clear the forest but when you plant palm oil, you cannot sell, no way you are going to export.”
In his speech when officiating the forum earlier, Johari said the Malaysian government would not approve any oil palm plantations developed by clearing forests after 2020 but would focus on increasing the yield of existing plantations.
He said this is to demonstrate the sustainability of the Malaysian palm oil industry to the international community.
Apart from prohibiting oil palm plantations established after Dec 31, 2019, from converting natural forests, other measures implemented include limiting the total oil palm planting area to 6.5 million hectares and so on.
Nevertheless, Malaysiakini found that the DOE approved at least seven oil palm plantation projects in Pahang, Kelantan, Johor, and Perak after 2020.
The report also pointed out that a Pahang government-linked company, PKNP, cleared 539 hectares of forest after 2020 but still obtained MSPO certification.
Furthermore, PKNP destroyed riparian zones, did not comply with environmental management plans (EMPs), and conducted open burning activities.
These practices have violated MSPO and DOE regulations but PKNP continued to clear forests to develop oil palm plantations. - Mkini
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