Coordinated approach for palm oil issues

“I think when you expect only one sector to take action, that is not going to resolve the issue. We also need to get input from the manufacturing and construction sectors,” said Wilmar's Perpetua George. — Reuters

KUALA LUMPUR: A palm oil industry player has called for a coordinated approach to deal with the issues in the palm oil industry, including the treatment of foreign labour in Malaysia.

Wilmar International Ltd general manager for group sustainability, Perpetua George, said foreign labour issues were happening in many sectors throughout the country, not just in the palm oil industry.

“I think when you expect only one sector to take action, that is not going to resolve the issue. We also need to get input from the manufacturing and construction sectors.”

During a panel session titled “Palm Oil Sustainability: The Way Forward” at the Palm and Lauric Oils Price Outlook Conference and Exhibition, she noted that the oil palm sector has been scapegoated for years in terms of the treatment of foreign labour.

She said there has also been a failure to recognise the sector’s contributions to rural development, and highlighted that over the years, palm oil companies had provided infrastructures such as accommodations, schools and roads.

“We are doing a lot. We need reciprocation, we need guidance from the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil and the Malaysian Palm Oil Certification Council. We need the government to come and support us,” she said. — Bernama