KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s Small Palm Oil Famers have combined forces to condemn Europe’s effort to ban palm oil biofuels.
The new campaign releases its first digital ad that will appear across Europe to highlight the European Union’s (EU) unjust and discriminatory campaign to ban palm oil biofuels under the Renewable Energy Directive (RED).
“A ban on palm oil biofuels threatens to sentence 3.2 million Malaysians to a life of poverty.
“Malaysia’s Small Farmers demand the European Council reject the proposals of the European Parliament, and reaffirm Europe’s commitment to Southeast Asia, Malaysia and small palm oil farmers,” it said.
“Palm oil has allowed the rural poor in Malaysia to develop our own land, lift ourselves and our families out of poverty, and take control of our own economic density.
“An EU ban on palm oil biofuels is an all-out assault against the hundreds of thousands of small farmers across Malaysia.
“The EU will force farmers into poverty, if it bans palm oil. NASH and Malaysia’s small farmers will not stand by while Europeans attempt to sell commercial products to Malaysians with one hand, while cutting off our economic lifelines with the other hand.
“It is unacceptable behavior: the palm oil ban must be stopped immediately,” National Association of SmallHolders (NASH) president Datuk Aliasak Ambia said in a statement.
Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA) chairman Tan Sri Shahrir Abdul Samad said the proposed EU ban on palm oil biofuels, under the Renewable Energy Directive, is discriminatory and must be removed.
“The 112,635 FELDA small farmers in Malaysia, and their families, demand a clear and direct clarification from the EU, that palm oil biofuels will not be banned.
“The Malaysian palm oil industry is an economic lifeline for small farmers; it has lifted their families from poverty to prosperity. I will continue to defend the interest of our small farmer community and ensure justice for them in the global markets,” he said.
Sarawak Land Consolidation & Rehabilitation Authority (SALCRA) chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said it is unacceptable that EU politicians are preparing to put at risk the prosperity, safety and health of 3.2 million Malaysians.
“Tens of thousands of SALCRA small farmers and their rural communities will suffer if the EU bans pal oil biofuels. We will not allow this to happen,” he said.
Besides that, Dayak Oil Palm Planters Association (DOPPA) president Dr Richard Mani said indigenous peoples in Malaysia will suffer if the EU bans palm oil.
“Indigenous communities have used palm oil to lift ourselves and our families out of poverty, and build new hope for the future.
“The EU’s proposal puts all of that at risk and undermines UN (United Nations) Sustainable Development Goals. On behalf of the Dayak planters of Malaysian Borneo, I urge the European Council to abandon this cruel and heartless plan that will only bring poverty to Malaysia,” he said.