No workers, production drops

WEST Sepik administrator Conrad Tilau is concerned about the low crude oil palm production due to shortage of labour to harvest palm oil in Bewani.
“Oil palm is a big revenue generator for the province and I will have to talk with the Bewani Oil Palm Plantation Ltd management to address the labour shortages,” Tilau said.
“(The company) is not coming to us (for) help and is working in isolation.
“We can talk about quarantine measures to be set in place and put up a centre to quarantine Indonesian oil palm harvesters before they are allowed to harvest oil palm to boost production.
“We must encourage locals to go and work there.
“Maybe the locals are reluctant to work because of no awareness before recruiting them.
“Maybe there are no incentives like free breakfast, lunch and dinner.”
“After all, there are many unemployed locals and we can’t understand why they don’t want to harvest oil palm.”
Tilau said that he planned to have a public and awareness forum with the Labour Department and the company to address labour shortages.
“Oil palm is an important industry as it will generate many spin-off activities and boost the economy in the province but Bewani Oil Palm Plantation Ltd has to come and meet with us.”
Bewani Oil Palm Plantation Ltd administration executive officer Felix Topni said earlier that this year they made three shipments of crude oil to overseas markets totalling 11,000 metric tonnes before Covdi-19 forced out the Indonesian labourers.
“We used to be fair with local harvesters and we recruited them all over the province,” he said.
“They worked alongside the Indonesians but the Indonesians work much faster than the locals because they are experienced harvesters from working in oil palm plantations in Malaysia.
“A harvester makes up to K2,000 per fortnight if he/she harvests the required daily metric tonnes.
“The Indonesians are used to such work so they just work.
“For the locals, they don’t understand such work, thinking they are entitled for such money on fortnightly basis so they become frustrated and desert work when they don’t get the fortnight wages they expect.”
Topni said the 18,000-hectare plantation was huge and needed intensive labour for harvest.