THE Plantation Industries and Commodities Ministry has so much potential to be a “self-sustainable” or “money-generating” ministry for the nation, its former minister Zuraida Kamaruddin said today.

The former Ampang lawmaker said the new government led by her former boss Anwar Ibrahim must accord proper attention on spurring market expansion, product or service marketability, research and development and application of innovation and technology to achieve this.

“The ministry could in the future push for a consolidation of oil palm plantations/rubber estates under one roof to foster effective and sustainable management,” she said in a statement.

She added that under her watch, the ministry had pushed the “Global Movement to Champion the Goodness of Palm Oil” campaign, which had been fruitful as an international platform to spark awareness about the high quality of Malaysian palm oil.

The campaign also countered various misinformation levelled at local palm oil.

Zuraida also proposed the streamlining of the cooking oil subsidy programme under one single agency under this ministry instead of the current practice of having it under the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry.

“This will prevent overlapping and confusion as to which authority should have the final say pertaining to the pricing or price control mechanism of cooking oil. 

“All the more, this ministry is overburdened with consumer affair matters across all products.”

She also suggested that the incoming plantation industries and commodities minister look into the threshold on qualifying commodity products.

“The reason why I moot this idea is simply because the expansion into various profitable commodities such as pineapples, coconuts and durians – all of which boast export potential if properly managed, justify the ministry’s role as an income-generating commodity ministry.

“This is apart from its key focus of boosting major commodity crops such as palm oil, rubber, timber, cocoa, pepper and fibre.

“Perhaps it is time the Rural and Regional Development Ministry focused on the community and related matters, and allow the Plantation Industries and Commodities Ministry to manage all commodities,” she said.

Zuraida was plantation industries and commodities minister for a 14-month period between August 2021 and October 2022.

Anwar, appointed as prime minister on Thursday, is set to announce his new cabinet early this week. It is expected to be a leaner cabinet than those under past administrations. – November 27, 2022.