Sime Darby Restores Guthrie’s Pride

After barely 25 days of operation in Liberia, Sime Darby has begun restoring pride to Guthrie, the country’s second largest rubber plantation.

Not only has Sime Darby begun restoring the plantation’s pride, but it has also embarked on building the human resource capacity of more than 2,000 workers at the plantation.

The Malaysian company is the world’s largest palm oil producer, producing about 2.4 million tonnes (or 6%) of the world’s crude palm oil output annually.

The company, which has acquired a 63-year concession in Liberia to develop 220,000 hectares of land into oil palm and rubber estates, has begun major rehabilitation work on damage structures and the employment of over 1,600 workers at the plantation, most of whom are former workers of the company that owned the plantation before Sime Darby’s takeover.

When the Daily Observer visited the plantation over the weekend, rehabilitation of schools and hospitals being undertaken by Liberian contractors.

Within 25 days, the company has managed to pave the main road leading to the plantation for the safe passage of equipment being brought into the area.

In order to improve health care on the plantation, the company has also boosted the capacity of the hospital, which has been in a deplorable condition. An initial five sets of beds, valued at over US$2,375, has been provided.

The hospital, which caters for over 80 patients daily, has for the past several months suffered serious logistical problems owing to the fact that the plantation was not yet functional.

Additionally, the Guthrie Plantation has, for the first time in more than 15 years, donated an ambulance valued at over US$30,000 to the hospital.

“This is just the beginning of what Sime Darby will do in Liberia. We remain committed to helping government achieve its Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS),” Sime Darby Senior Manager, Boima Sonnii, told the Daily Observer.

He said already, his company was set to embark on the cultivation of 264,000 hectares of land for the planting of two million nursing seeds for oil palm this year.

Sime Darby, which will undertake 80 percent oil palm and 20 percent rubber production, will cultivate 5,000 hectares of land each year in each of the four counties spanning the plantation.

A period of 15 years will be required for the development of the seeds following which production of oil palm will begin.

Peter Mulbah, speaking on behalf of the hospital said he was grateful for the arrival of Sime Darby on the plantation. He said the presence of the company is a saving grace to the over 22,000 residents of the plantation.

“I thank God for Sime Darby coming to Liberia. We were dying; but since the company came, they have put smiles on our faces. Sime Darby came and gave us rice and materials to work with. Not only that, they have also promised to increase our salaries on the plantation and to give us free education,” he said.

As part of the company’s initial development program on the plantation, they have also begun rehabilitation work on the Gbah Town Police station, which had been burnt down during last year’s violence involving workers and the Government.

Guthrie Plantation, now run by Sime Darby, covers Bomi, Grand Cape Mount, Gbarpolu and Bong counties, and is expected to provide 20,000 jobs for Liberians across the country.

The company has also pledged to help boost the capacity of small farmers across the country by developing a smallholders’ development program for the duration of the agreement. The Outgrowers Scheme will be developed along the lines of a co-operative scheme, with farmers having stake through organized cooperatives. Sime Darby will develop and manage an area designated by the Liberian Government for this purpose and is expected to create opportunities for farmers to own commercially viable plantation businesses.

“The said program will develop entrepreneurship and will go a long way towards developing, improving and stimulating the Liberian economy,” a portion of the agreement reads.

The former manager of Guthrie, Boakai Sirleaf, said he was pleased with that portion.
Sirleaf he was also pleased with the level of progress and the security situation at the plantation, adding that the plantation is now problem-free and that workers are also pleased.

“One thing I am happy for is the issue of education for workers at the plantation. With free education for workers at the plantation, our citizens will have the opportunity to learn and help improve the country,” he said.

As an integrated plantation company, Sime Darby Plantation, formerly known as Guthrie Rubber Plantation, is involved in the full spectrum of the palm oil value chain. The Division’s downstream operations are represented in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, China, Germany, United Kingdom, Bangladesh, South Africa and United Arab Emirates.

The company also invests heavily in Research and Development (R&D) and is the first in the world to successfully sequence, assemble and annotate the oil palm genome.

It also welcomes partnerships with like-minded organizations to pursue innovative approaches towards developing sustainable products and services in the industry.