SABAH, S'WAK OIL PALM PLANTERS MAY RECRUIT WORKERS FROM CHINA, BANGLADESH,

SIBU (Malaysia), Oct 20 (Bernama) -- Oil palm planters in the East Malaysian
states of Sabah and Sarawak may soon recruit workers from China, Bangladesh and
the Philippines.

"This is our effort to ensure sufficient workers in addition to those from
Indonesia," the East Malaysia Planters' Association(EMPA) chairman Othman Walat,
told reporters during a dinner Monday night to recruit more members in the state
for the association.

Othman said although the Chinese workers were an untested group,
historically they had been employed in the country's tin mining industry in the
early 1900s, while some Filipinos including graduates were already employed in
mills in Sabah.

Sabah and Sarawak now account for 40 per cent of the plantations in the
country.

Meanwhile figures from the Statistics Department revealed that last year,
the industry had employed 369,290 foreign and 196,480 local workers.

In 2007, there were 186,110 locals and 348,272 foreigners.

The country is projected to produce 18.4 million tonnes of crude palm oil
(CPO)this year while for 2010, the target is 19.69 million tonnes.

Othman said most locals shunned jobs in the industry because of the
preceived low pay.

"But plantations these days are offering productivity-based renumerations.

He also said Sarawak would be the new growth area although at a slower pace
for oil palm as suitable land was dwindling in Sabah.

He highlighted that by the end of last year, Sabah had about 1.3 million
hectares under oil palm while Sarawak had 744,372 hectares.

On the recent attempt by a certain western organisation to stop the planting
of oil palm on peat soil in the two states, Othman said this was motivated more
by economic factors rather than genuine concern for the environment.

"Have those people concerned done enough studies to come to the conclusion
that planting oil palm on peat area is harmful to the environment due to the gas
emission problem?

"This problem is also caused by the rearing of cattle in western countries
and similarly, should the practice be stopped?,"he asked.
-- BERNAMA