The Sarawak Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority (SALCRA) signed two Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the Integrated Palm Oil Waste Management and the Supply and Testing of Selected Bamboo Species for Raw Material for the Production of Manganese Alloys Product Project.
The first MoU on the Integrated Palm Oil Waste Management project is signed between SALCRA and Bau Palm Oil Mill Sdn Bhd (BAPOM), and Nextgreen (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd (Nextgreen Sarawak).
According to Chairman of SALCRA YB Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah who is also the Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Modernisation of Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development Sarawak, one of the major challenges faced by palm oil mills today is addressing sustainability issues particularly solid waste and palm oil mill effluent (POME).
“With the collaboration between SALCRA, BAPOM and Nextgreen Sarawak, a new sustainable green industry can be created, where the empty fruit bunches (EFB) can be turned into pulp and paper, while the POME can be converted into bio-gas as energy source,” he said on November 10th at Dewan Undangan Negeri Sarawak.
He added that the MOU will not only solve the mill waste issue, but also comply with the regulation set by Department of Environment (DOE) and Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) in methane trapping under the Entry Point Project 5 (EPP 5) of the National Key Economic Area (NKEA) programme.
As for the second project, the MoU was signed between SALCRA and Pertama Ferroalloys Sdn Bhd (Pertama), a company involve in the production of manganese.
“Under this MOU, SALCRA will supply bamboo to Pertama for the purpose of testing its viability and suitability as a raw material for manganese production processes,”
“In addition to using the bamboo, Pertama will allow SALCRA to use its land for planting of selected bamboo species or bamboo plantation,” said YB Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah.
