KOTA KINABALU: The government is poised to implement the oil palm Electronic Fresh Fruit Bunches (EFFB) initiative after seeing the success of the pilot project undertaken in Tanjung Piai, Johor.
Deputy Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Jeck Seng said the implementation of the project will enable the prevention of manipulation as well as non-compliance in the oil palm industry.
However, he added that it is critical not to rush the implementation of the EFFB project nationwide as it involved various stakeholders.
“If we rush it, then the system could be disrupted and subsequently create an issue,” he said to reporters during an event in Sungai Sibuga, Sandakan on Tuesday (June 21).
“The pilot project has reached its maturity date and we will see what are the shortcomings and challenges faced within its implementation period. Besides that, we will make improvements to the project before we can implement it throughout the country,” he added.
Wee had in March this year said the oil palm EFFB initiative, a pilot online system to tackle the issue of fruit theft and weighing, will be improved before being expanded nationwide.
The EFFB pilot project was implemented in Tanjung Piai, Johor, on April 1 last year involving 6,045 smallholders and an oil palm area of 11,954ha.
The system developed by the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) was aimed at monitoring and reporting fresh fruit bunch (FFB) transactions in a transparent manner and it encouraged private smallholders to keep records of their orchard maintenance and yields, he added.
Wee also said the mobile counter facility to ease the process for oil palm smallholders to renew their MPOB licences will start immediately.
“The mobile counters will be implemented following the complaints by smallholders in village areas,” he said.
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