KOTA KINABALU – If glove makers are exempted from a windfall tax, the same should apply to palm oil producers, said Kota Kinabalu MP Chan Foong Hin today.
In a statement, he said glove makers and palm oil producers should not be treated differently.
“If the glove makers are exempted from such tax, why are oil palm growers charged with the same tax?” he asked.
“It is wrong to assume that all growers make money when palm oil prices in the physical market have surpassed RM2,500 per tonne, or RM3,000 per tonne in Sabah and Sarawak.
“The industry as a whole is just recovering from the prolonged low palm oil prices and has suffered in terms of low profits and even losses over a period of time.
“The Perikatan Nasional government, sadly, does not seem to have the best interest of oil palm growers in their minds.”
Earlier, Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz said a windfall tax would be a non-consistent policy and would send a wrong signal to investors and deter them from investing in Malaysia.
He was objecting to proposals from MPs in the Dewan Rakyat to impose a windfall tax on glove makers that have benefited from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Chan said the government should have lifted all forms of windfall tax on palm oil industries, at least temporarily during the pandemic, especially for smallholders.
He said contrary to popular belief, growers were no longer earning as much as they did previously before the pandemic.
“Plantation owners are required to ensure their workers are healthy and Covid-19-free or risk a lockdown. It is now also harder to recruit new healthy foreign workers from overseas to work at these plantations,” said Chan.
“As a result, more money is spent, mostly for preventive and precautionary measures that brings no additional yield or profit whatsoever.”
Oil palm growers are subjected to a 3% levy when crude palm oil prices hit RM2,500 a tonne in Peninsular Malaysia, and a 1.5% levy when CPO prices surpass RM3,000 a tonne in Sabah and Sarawak. – The Vibes, November 30, 2020
