MIRI: Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg today urged oil palm plantations to be more innovative to overcome the labour shortage.
He said innovations like palm fruit harvesting machines could ease the labour shortage, including foreign labour, which has inhibited the industry's growth.
"To get labour from outside the state, there is a process that needs to be followed, including complying with immigration laws. This process takes at least eight months," he said at the inauguration of palm fruit harvesting machines at Ladang Subis in Jalan Miri-Bintulu today.
He said the long wait caused grievances in the industry, "but we have to obey the law".
He said using palm fruit harvesting machines could boost productivity compared with using manual labour.
He said the machines could bring about big change in the state's palm oil industry.
He said this was in line with the vision of change he had for the sector.
Palm fruit harvesting machines have wireless control, allowing operators to complete the harvesting process easily, quickly and efficiently.
They can harvest 300 bunches or three metric tonnes of palm fruit a day.
They can harvest 5ha of land a day, using only two litres of petrol per hour.
Abang Johari also witnessed the exchange of a memorandum of understanding and a memorandum of agreement involving Sarawak Plantation Bhd, Sarawak Plantation Agriculture Development Sdn Bhd, Sarawak Plantation Services Sdn Bhd, PALMECO, Institute of Malaysian Plantation and Commodities, Sarawak Skills, Kolej Yayasan Melaka Sdn Bhd and Miri Technical College.
Present were Deputy Minister in the Premier's Department (Labour, Immigration and Project Monitoring) Datuk Gerawat Gala, Deputy Public Health, Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Dr Penguang Manggil, Deputy Women, Childhood and Community Development Datuk Rosey Yunus and Sarawak Plantation Bhd executive chairman Datuk Amar Abdul Hamed Sepawi.