Palm oil industry supportive of Covid-19 vaccination for workforce
KUCHING: The Covid-19 vaccination drive slated for the workforce in Sarawak’s palm oil industry has been running at the plantation industry vaccination centres (PIPPVs) in various parts across the state since July 7.
In stating this, Sarawak Oil Palm Plantation Owners Association (Soppoa), says the early PPVs have been set up at the premises of oil palm estates in Sibu, Miri and Bintulu.
“Similar smaller-scale exercises have also been carried out in various districts, under the monitoring of government rural clinics.
“Sarawak’s palm oil industry is the first in the country to conduct Covid-19 vaccination for its employees on a mass scale at estates, mills and refineries.
“This clearly demonstrates that the state government, through the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC), cares for the safety and health of those working in the essential services sector,” said Soppoa yesterday, adding such effort had been meticulously planned and carried out by SDMC with major stakeholders and with full participation of the plantation sector represented by Soppoa.
According to Soppoa chief executive Andrew Cheng, these vaccination programmes are now being carried out at Soppoa members’ premises and also at rural public venues for the employees in the palm oil industry in Sarawak.
“They are a part of the national and state strategy to provide protection against the Covid-19.
“Soppoa members submit their employees’ particulars to the Ministry of Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development (Manred) for the vaccination programme and are given schedules on when the medical teams would come to provide the necessary services.
“By pooling large numbers of employees together in one setting, the vaccination programme could be carried out efficiently. In some rural areas, the smaller estates with lesser number of employees are also being pooled together with the surrounding smallholders to form a larger unit or share with the existing PIPPVs to facilitate the vaccination programme so that more people could be immunised in a much shorter time,” he said.
Soppoa noted this as part of the state’s excellent initiative to vaccinate the large majority of its adult population by end of August.
“In this regard, the palm oil industry fully supports the programme and would do whatever necessary, in collaboration with SDMC, to have its employees vaccinated as quickly as possible.
“It is the hope of everyone that the number of Covid-19 cases in Sarawak would go down through the vaccination programme, and for things to return to normal and the state’s economy to be back on track in the soonest time possible.
“Soppoa advises all employees of all sectors to come forward and support this national vaccination programme by providing all necessary resources available.
“We also express full appreciation to ministry’s permanent secretary Edwin Abit, and the team for the excellent coordination with Soppoa, PROTECT Health Corporation and Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) to make this possible,” it added.