MB: PLANTATIONS SHOULD DEPEND LESS ON FORIGNERS

MUAR: Johor wants the oil palm sector to go into large-scale mechanisation to cut its dependence on foreign labour.

“We are gearing towards becoming a developed nation by 2020 but we still lack people who are innovative and can build specialised machines for the plantations.

“And Malaysia is the world's biggest producer of high-quality palm oil,” Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman said after presenting land titles to 131 settlers in Felcra Kebun Baru on Friday.

He said that besides the plantations industry the construction sector should also adopt modern technology to replace manual labour.

He said hundreds of thousands of foreigners were engaged to work in plantations in the country as the locals, especially aged land owners, could not do the harvesting.

Official ceremony: Abdul Ghani presenting a land title to Felcra Kebun Baru settler Lai Sam Moi on Friday.

But if there were specialised machinery that could be operated easily then there would be no need to employ foreigners, he said.

He said he recently went to a barber in Johor Baru and was surprised to see that all the barbers in the shop were foreigners who could not even speak Bahasa Malaysia.

“We want to be a developed nation but if we lack innovation and creativity and continue to depend on foreign workers, Malaysia can never be a developed nation.

“Specialised machines for farmers and contractors can also speed up work and increase productivity,” he added.

SOURCE: THE STAR, Sunday December 16, 2007