HIGHER palm oil prices are due to rising demand on the back of shrinking supply and not due to any government efforts, Felda settlers said.

They said neither the previous Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan governments nor the present Umno-led administration should take any credit for the price increase.

“The current situation has nothing to do with politics. Prices are high because Indonesia stopped exports, and when palm oil production drops, the price goes up,” said Gunung Bongsu Felda settler Ahmad Nizar Hassan.

The 64-year-old also told The Malaysian Insight the planters are not enjoying a windfall as the costs of wages and pesticides have risen. 

He said the price increase could also be due to lower harvests.

As of June 8, the price of crude palm oil recorded by the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) stood at RM6,729.50 per metric tonne.

Despite the soaring prices, Nizar said the labour shortage has made it difficult for planters to get the most out of the farms.

“Right now, we are only producing 60-70% of capacity due to road problems, labour, etc. Since the movement control orders, the labour shortage has been severe.

“Workers ask for a wage increase when manpower is scarce; wages have doubled in less than a year,” he said.

It costs RM140 to harvest and transport per metric tonne of palm oil, compared to RM106 previously.

“When there are no workers, the price goes up. And palm bunches need to be picked within 15 days or else they go bad and drop,” he said.

Nizar thanked the government for writing off the settlers’ debts.

He was referring to the Muhyiddin Yassin government’s decision on July 7 last year to forgive 80% of the settlers’ loans totalling RM8.3 billion.

“The debt adjustment is a relief because we know how much we owe now. Before that, there wasn’t a balance sheet we could close,” he said.

He now owes RM70,000, including for a housing loan, compared to more than RM100,000 before the adjustment.

More benefits from Najib

However, Nizar, said the settlers were more comfortably off during the Najib Razak administration, when Barisan Nasional had paid more attention to the planters.

“Now we no longer receive the aid we had during Najib’s time and the settlers are not as financially comfortable as before,” he said.

Bang Lik, 55, said the settlers don’t want to be treated as merely the government’s “vote banks”.

“It doesn’t matter who the government is, the important thing is that we are taken care of. At present no one is defending us,” he said.

Bang Lik also recalls the aid the settlers received from the Najib administration.

“At that time we received a lot of help and benefits, to the extent it was said that the government had adopted Felda.

“No one has paid attention to us like Najib did since. Now this is a PKR constituency, the state is run by PAS, and we can’t see what the state government has done here.”

Felda Gunung Bongsu is in the Kulim-Bandar Baharu parliamentary seat, which is held by PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, who won the constituency from BN’s Aziz Sheikh Fadzir in 2018.

“If PAS does not serve the people, the party will find it difficult to keep Kedah,” he said.

He said Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor has not set foot in the area or helped the settlers.

“He has never bothered to listen to our problems,” he said.

Bang Lik said BN must win back the seat for the Felda residents to enjoy the benefits they used to.

“During BN’s time, the government was strong. Now the government is weak and has only a small majority,” he said.

“If we win two-thirds, it will be easier for the government to make a decision,” he said.

Felda Gunung Bongsu was a rubber plantation in the early stages of its establishment but in 2011, most of the settlers switched to planting oil palm after the rubber trees were cut down for replanting.

Among the 184 planters, only 42 have stuck to growing rubber.  The rest have switched to oil palm which fetches a higher price. – June 11, 2022.