Another joint-venture (JV) project to develop native customary rights (NCR) land into large-scale oil palm plantation has been aborted. Sarawak Oil Palms Bhd (SOP) and Pelita Holdings Bhd (Pelita) had mutually agreed to rescind the JV agreement they had entered into on Oct 25, 2011 to develop some 1,645ha of NCR land in Sungai Arang, Bakong, Baram in Miri Division. The reason was because both parties and the NCR landowners concerned were unable to create sufficient land bank that was economical for oil palm development after many months of negotiations, SOP said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia. Pelita was nominated by the Sarawak government to act as the trustee for the landowners. A JV company — SOP Pelita Sg Arang Plantation Sdn Bhd — with SOP and Pelita owning 60% and 40% equity interest respectively was earlier set up to undertake the project.
Posted on: Mon, 04 Aug 2014 07:15:14 +0000