Farm Mechanisation Key To Reduce Dependency On Foreign Labour

KUALA LUMPUR, May 15 (Bernama) -- The adoption of farm mechanisation and better salary packages for local workers is crucial to overcome heavy dependence on foreign labour in the country's oil palm industry, said Malaysian Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities Bernard Dompok. He said that currently, oil palm plantations were facing a severe labour shortage of about 35,473 workers. As the industry progressed, he said the plantation sector needed to undergo a paradigm shift from one that was heavily reliant on labour to mechanisation, which eventually would reduce dependency on foreign labour. Dompok said this in his opening speech at the Palm Industry Labour: Issues, Performances and Sustainability Seminar (PILIPS 2012), organised by the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) here today. The text of his speech was read out by his deputy Hamzah Zainudin. Dompok noted that the adoption of mechanisation was still limited to large oil palm plantations due to high investment costs. He lamented that the high number of foreign workers employed in the plantation sector had caused a negative impact on the Gross National Income (GNI) of the industry. "It is estimated that foreign workers remit an average of 60 per cent of their income back to their home countries," he said. Out of the 491,339 workers in the oil palm industry, 76 per cent of the workforce comprise foreign workers mainly from Indonesia. They are employed as harvesters, fresh fruit bunch collectors and field workers for weeding, fertiliser application and pruning. "In efforts to mitigate the over-dependence on foreign labour and woo the locals, the ministry through its agencies has set up the Institute of Malaysian Plantation and Commodities (IMPAC) to develop human capital, encompassing levels of operations, support services and marketing," Dompok added. MPOB chairman Shahrir Abdul Samad said that the oil palm industry was projected to contribute US$57.76 billion (RM178 billion) to the GNI by 2020, which would create an additional 41,000 jobs of which 40 per cent would be high-skilled levels with an average monthly income of US$1,946.22 (RM6,000). -- BERNAMA