Daily Oil Palm Ops Will Continue In Sabah Amid COVID SOPs, Say Associations

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 27– The oil palm plantation industry in Sabah is allowed to continue their daily operations within their respective lockdown boundaries in mitigating the spread of COVID-19.

In a joint statement today, the Malaysian Palm Oil Association (MPOA) and Malaysian Estate Owners’ Association (MEOA) said Sabah and its people would face significant losses and social-economic consequences if the state were to impose a complete shutdown of the sector.

The associations were responding to a press statement by the Sabah government that said the state and the plantation industry had reached an agreement and would roll out a joint approach in mitigating the spread of COVID-19 by implementing a voluntary 30-day lockdown in the plantation sector.

“Planters are urged to work closely with Health Ministry personnel and all other private swab testing service providers approved by the Social Security Organisation to carry out swab testing, fully cooperate in risk assessments, demonstrating their standard operating procedures (SOPs) are in place and provision of isolation and quarantine facilities if needed,” the associations said.

Both the MPOA and the MEOA added that lockdown restrictions that the sector needed to adhere to include restricted access into the estates, strict SOPs in movements of food, supply and services, including fertilisers and other agrochemicals, spare parts and machinery into the operations.

“There will also be restricted movement of workers and all other employees out of the estates, incorporating strict social distancing in estate operations, use of face masks in estate operations, no social gatherings or other group activities within the estates, and additional measures to promote cleanliness and personal hygiene,” they added.

The associations called upon their members (combined membership land bank of MPOA and MEOA represents 43 per cent of the total Sabah oil palm planted area) and all other planters in Sabah to adhere to the above measures and accelerate their swab screening to cover all their workers and the larger community in their respective operations.

Sabah is Malaysia’s largest palm oil-producing state and out of the current 5.8 million hectares covered with oil palm (nationwide), 1.54 million hectares are located in Sabah, involving thousands of planters and tens of thousands of smallholders.

Source: BERNAMA

Adib Mohd

Recent Posts

The First 72 Hours After a Stroke, Crucial for Recovery and Saving Lives

Did you know that you could lose approximately 1.9 million neurons after a stroke hit?… Read More

13 hours ago

Huawei ICT Academy Will Level Up Your Digital Mastery

Huawei Technologies (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (Huawei Malaysia) and Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Johor are collaborating… Read More

13 hours ago

Malaysia Faces Rising Dementia Care Burden as Families Struggle Alone

Malaysia Faces Rising Dementia Care Burden as Families Struggle Alone Malaysia’s rapidly aging population is… Read More

20 hours ago

From Oval Office to Silver Screen: Trump Cameo Legacy You Can Never Recreate

From Oval Office to Silver Screen: Trump Cameo Legacy You Can Never Recreate Imagine you… Read More

20 hours ago

Step In, Stand Out, Converse Introduces Malaysia’s All Star Class of 2026

Are you ready to meet your new classmates? Converse Malaysia will bring you into a… Read More

2 days ago

IKEA Malaysia Crowns Three Ultimate Cook-Off Champions

The heat was on and creativity was unleashed. On 4 and 5 October 2025, over… Read More

2 days ago

This website uses cookies.