Stay firm on expansion ban

THE recent move by the Primary Industries Ministry to ban further expansion of oil palm plantations is timely and justified. As expected, the voices of those opposing this move are coming out and it won’t be long before they turn into angry howls, particularly from the industry players.

Before somebody accuses me of being another tree-hugging hippie working for “foreign elements”, let me clarify that I am actually an industry professional who has been working with palm oil for over 20 years. In my work, I have travelled and lived extensively in palm oil-producing countries in South-East Asia, Africa, South America and the Pacific. I have planted millions of oil palm trees all over the world and reaped good economic benefits out of them.