By Adrian Lim
KUCHING, Feb 2: Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) is calling on the state government to disband the operation of Sarawak Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority (Salcra) and allow smallholders to run the oil palm plantation estates.
PBK political affairs director Raymond Thong in a press statement today asserted Salcra’s current business model does not provide optimal benefit for landowners.
He opined that it is better for smallholders themselves to run oil palm plantations as oil palm estates and palm oil mills are where profits are made.
“Salcra has consistently been performing below the industry average. What is it that the private sectors are doing right which Salcra is doing wrong?
“It is not a one or two years’ issue but a long-term performance issue. Even the smallholders who are managing their own oil palms are performing better than Salcra,” Thong claimed.
He added that Salcra’s oil palm yield of around 15 tonnes per hectare was also lower than the industry average of 20 tons per hectare.
Hence, he urged Salcra to look into its capacity to harvest and transport fresh fruit bunches to oil palm mills to increase its yields.
Thong also believed Salcra should appoint a proven chief executive officer to manage each estate and set Key Performance indicators (KPI) and Key Performance Results (KPR) in order to run the organisation more efficiently. — DayakDaily
