Stingy oil palm companies

When the Crude Oil Palm (CPO) prices is good, oil palm companies all over Malaysia is smiling to the bank. They have little to pass back to the community. We all appreciate the oil palm companies for allowing the kampung folk to use their road.

Now they are becoming stingy and claimed that the kampung folks hasten the damages to their roads and lamented that they may closed the estate roads to the public.

One of the expectation of the government when it allow the oil palm companies to develop the lands deep in the interior is to improve the economy in that particular areas including a better road. Non-gravel estate roads is better than no road.

What the oil palm companies should done (with all their powerful connection with the government and the authority) is to demand JKR to at least maintain the road and to prevent heavy vehicle like the big lorries from timber companies. I believe JKR has plenty of gravel stockpiles for road maintenance purpose. Oil palm companies should not complain about the kampong folks using their roads.

To the kampong folks, estate roads or JKR roads is still the same. A mean for them to bring their produces to the nearest bazaar in exchange for small amount of cash. And I also don't think those kampung folks have cars to ply the estate roads everyday.

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From TheBorneoPost

Help maintain access road: Oil palm company

MIRI: An oil palm company is appealing to all quarters using its plantation road to sit down and find ways to maintain the upkeep of the access road linking Miri and Marudi.

A spokesman said yesterday the company had been shouldering the burden of maintaining the road which people use as an easier access as the alternative road was in a bad shape.

“We can’t go on shouldering this financial burden and the company appeals to the government, elected representatives and other oil palm companies using this stretch of the road to sit down and find a solution to this problem,” the spokesman said.

“Otherwise, the company would be forced to close this road due to financial burden in its maintenance.”

The spokesman pointed out that the company had not carried out any plantation activity there due to some land dispute, but the public using the road were directing complaints at the company now.

He hoped all quarters would understand the situation and sit down to discuss the problems and find a solution for a win-win situation.

“If we can’t do that, then the company has no choice, but to close this road to the public,” he said.

The public has been using the company’s road as it is better maintained compared to the previous route which is riddled with deep potholes and is also steep.