TWO of Sarawak’s economic sectors heavily dependent on foreign labour – oil palm plantations and construction – are reportedly reeling from the September 7 entry ban Putrajaya imposed on nationals from 23 countries.

The ban applies to countries recording more than 150,000 Covid-19 cases and among them is Indonesia – the state’s sole approved source of foreign labour.

The palm oil industry is a major contributor to Sarawak’s income as well as the federal government in the form of taxes and other revenues earned from the industry through export of crude palm oil (CPO).

Currently, the planted area has reached 1.7 million ha – the largest single planted area and growth region in Malaysia.

While the Sarawak Oil Palm Plantation Owners’ Association (SOPPOA) has yet to respond to The Malaysian Insight’s queries on the impact of the ban, a statement on its website states that the palm oil industry in the state “is critically short of workers”.

It said even before the Covid-19 pandemic, plantations were already suffering from labour shortage.

The shortage is estimated at more than 45,000 and that, the association added, has become a major crisis since the commencement of movement-control order (MCO) imposed since March 2020.

It said no new Indonesian workers, particularly harvesters and general workers for the so-called 3D work – dirty, dangerous and difficult – which locals generally shun, are allowed into the country while those whose employment contracts expired have left the country.

Compounding the problem is that the state’s population – just more than two million people – is small and the industry has to compete with other more lucrative sectors for the workers.

To SOPPOA, the palm oil industry in Sarawak is continuously fighting an uphill battle.

With such a severe shortage, its outlook for the industry is that it will suffer from loss of crop due to non-harvesting and subsequent decline of production of CPO, which is the lifeline of the industry.

“It’s is getting worse and unbearable with substantial amounts of crop unharvested, subsequently rotted and wasted,” it stated.

“Field conditions are getting bad and replanting of older palms are delayed due to not enough hands.”

More worrisome for the industry too, is that the shortage will be prolonged and SOPPOA estimated that the restart of intake of new foreign workers will take between six and nine months to recover from the shortage now.

While SOPPOA sees the future rather bleak, the Sarawak Housing and Real Estate Developers’ Association (Sheda) saw the opposite and it showed some optimism in the housing construction industry.

Sheda Kuching branch chairman Sim Kiang Chiok said property developers and their contractors have to make do with their existing human resources.

The property sector, like all the industries that rely heavily on Indonesian workers, should take this time to automate some of the work, he said.

“Now is the time for these industries to be more automated. Go for the upgrade.

“Let the machines do more of the work and use fewer humans.”

Sarawak has an estimated 138,000 foreign workers. – September 22, 2020.