PETALING JAYA: Primary Industries Minister Teresa Kok does not understand the financial concerns of oil palm plantation smallholders in her insistence that that they should apply for the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certification, says MCA deputy president Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon.
He said the smallholders were reluctant to apply because they would have to bear the legal fees and advisory cost.
He added that the government's RM100mil allocation to subsidise the cost of MSPO assessment and certification did not cover the legal and advisory fees.
"Furthermore, there are many requirements to be met and the cost of certification will run into a whopping five-figure amount.
"Kok should try to understand the smallholders' grievances, rather than blindly blaming them," he said in a statement.
He said this in respond to Kok's announcement that the government was allocating RM100mil to help medium and smallholders to obtain MSPO certification.
"MCA has received complaints from oil palm plantation smallholders that Kok does nothing to understand the real reasons behind the smallholders’ reluctance in applying for the MSPO certification, but keeps on blaming them," said Dr Mah.
He pointed out that the smallholders could not understand why it was important to apply for MSPO because the Pakatan Harapan government only insisted they should apply without explaining the benefits.
"At a time when the price of palm fruits is about to dip below the cost of production, Kok’s announcement is meaningless, self-defeating and serves no purpose in helping the smallholders," he said.
Dr Mah said some smallholders complained that they did not get any feedback after applying for MSPO a couple of years ago.
"And in some cases, the officers allegedly passed the application forms over to palm oil mills without the smallholders’ consent, giving the excuse that collective applications were easier and cost-effective.
"However, the smallholders were instead requested to sell their harvest to the mills as a condition to continue with the certification process, thus dealing the smallholders another blow," he said.
Dr Mah also criticised Kok for playing politics and launching unrealistic campaigns such as "Love our palm oil" and "Drink palm oil" at a time when the sales of Malaysian palm oil had come to a standstill amidst the European Union's threat to boycott the product.
"It is also very disappointing that the Ministry is hopeless in helping needy smallholders, as the palm oil industry faces a tremendous challenge to its survival now," he said.
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