Malaysian oil palm firms eye Papua for expansion
Malaysian oil palm firms eye Papua for expansion
mongabay.com
September 26, 2008
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Malaysian palm oil firms are looking to aggressively expand operations in Papua, the Indonesian part of New Guinea, reports Bernama.
The chairman of the Nabire district legislative assembly, Daniel Butu, said that investors are eyeing the region for industrial oil palm plantations. He added that assembly members hoped oil palm development would employment opportunities for Papuans.
"The district legislative assembly supports any company wishing to develop the people of Nabire including the Malaysian companies," he was quoted as saying by the Antara news agency. "We hope these investors would also set up factories that would process the raw materials into finished products such as soap, cooking oil and other cosmetic materials."
It is unclear whether the proposed oil palm development would be affected by a province-wide ban on logging.
Last December Papuan Provincial Governor Barnabas Suebu imposed a moratorium on logging in hopes that the emerging carbon market would offer better returns for the people of Papua. Logging and forest conversion for agriculture — especially oil palm and rubber plantations — are an important source of revenue for the province.
"Conversion of these spectacular forests to agribusiness would be a great loss," Governor Suebu said at the time. "I hope this approach can provide a new development path for the forests and people of the Province of Papua."
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