RPCs a challenge to oil palm opponents
Sri Lankans, public sector officials and local villagers, opposed to setting up palm oil plantations are fighting Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs) since the last two months from engaging in this cultivation overriding government policy.
RPCs are facing a lot of flak from the public sector officials in the government bodies at the provincial level and local villages opposing the cultivation of palm oil by holding protests and stopping tractors carrying the plants from reaching the plantations, one such company impacted by the protests Horana Plantations CEO Manuja Kariyapperuma told the Business Times recently.
But the company noted that they would go ahead and carry out plantation of the crop, which they had invested in.
He noted that the company had brought down about 40,000 germinated seeds incurring a total cost of about Rs.27 million spent on importing seeds, establishing nurseries, fencing of lands among other expenses.
Govt. policy vs villagers’ policy
Mr. Kariyapperuma observed that they were only able to use about 50 per cent of these seeds and noted that they were facing stiff opposition inspite of a government policy to allocate 20, 000 hectares for the cultivation of palm oil.
Moreover, it was pointed out that at the development committee meetings held at the provincial level, planters were humiliated stating that the programme to cultivate palm oil needs to be suspended.
This issue had arisen over the past two months, it was noted adding that following these protests and problems faced by the companies they had met the District Secretary concerned in the respective areas resulting in a possibly favourable outcome.
But protests by the villages have intensified, it is learnt, since the plants are going to the field that caused a number of problems in cultivating these plants.
The villages would protest by lying down on the road obstructing the tractors plying the oil palm plants to the plantations.
Plantation companies allege that local area politicians also holding office in the present government were also involved in instigating these protests.
Importing oil palm
In the face of the current situation where Sri Lanka is compelled to import palm oil, inferi- or qualities of which were being detected lately, the country is likely to save more foreign exchange should they be able to cultivate the crop on the island itself.
Sri Lanka in 2015 imported over 31,000 MT of palm olein, over 121,000 MT of crude palm oil and over 3,000 MT of palm kernel and stearin to Sri Lanka.
Compared to the prices of coconuts that had risen to alarming rates, the oil palms could be used instead by consumers, plantation companies state adding that these tense situations were clearly not helping the state.
It is stated that since the edible oil demand is not fulfilled by local coconut oil industry alone, palm oil import is a continuous phenomenon for edible and industrial oil need in the country.
Agreeing to diversify
Under the terms of the agreement between the RPCs and the state, the plantation companies could diversify and at present a number of them were trying to do so into the lucrative venture oil palm, Planters Association Chairman Sunil Poholiyadde said last week when asked by the Business Times regarding the problems faced in attempts to diversify.
He explained that while there are a number of plantation companies trying to diversify into oil palm, they were facing both political and social agitation against the cultivation of the plant.
In the face of these developments the District Secretaries in these areas have requested the companies not to proceed with the cultivation of the crop and have asked instead to suspend these operations, it was pointed out.
Protests by the people in the areas of Galle, Kalutara and Kegalle RPCs were allegedly orchestrated by local area politicians who also represent these protesters.
Due to these issues, the plantation companies were held up in engaging in the cultivation of oil palms and in certain instances upto now no solution had been reached.
The government has adopted a policy to allocate 20,000 hectares to be used for oil palm cultivation in the country from the RPCs that require diversification of the crop in order to make gains on the plantations.
Innocent fears
A specialist in the cultivation of oil palm in Sri Lanka, Sri Kumar has dismissed allegations that this crop could bring about an imbalance in the water tables and possibilities of an “environmental hazard.”
Terming it a “yakshayage wagawa” or devil’s crop, locals fear the cultivation of this plant could be injurious to their own well- being in the future, but experts blame this on the uneasiness among Sri Lankans to change from the traditional crop cultivation.
Dismissing claims that the water could be impacted, plantation companies questioned how Galle which has the biggest oil palm properties was then not affected by such problems.
According to data released by the Plantation Industries Ministry 2015 report it is stated that the RPCs that are already engaged in oil palm cultivation are Namunukula, Agalawatte, Elpitiya, Watawala, SLSPC, Kotag ala, Hapugastenne, Bogawantalawa and Horana which spanned an extent of over 8000 hectares and which by 2016 was said to have increased to approximately 10,000 hectares.
Oil palm is considered less labour intensive and workers could earn more on lands where old rubber plantations are converted to oil palms as the former crop is not viable today.