Sorong – Residents in Salfi Sub-district of Sorong Selatan Regency rejected the local government's plan to invite a palm oil plantation company to their area, said Customary Council community leaders.
"We absolutely reject it, because it would affect to the sustainability of our dense forest," the Secretary of Sekanoi Customary Council Simson Sremere said. He further said the plam oil plantation would threat and damage the forest sustainability in their customary area.
"In addition, the deforestation for the palm oil plantation could threaten the habitat of various animals in our forest," he said.
The presence of a palm oil company could have an adverse effect on the local economy and marginalize the local community as the company would tend to hire migrant employees.
Meanwhile, a youth leader from Sayal Vilalge, Maikel Ajamsaru asked the Sorong Selatan Government to decline the MoU with the major investment companies who threat the ecosystem within other regions in Sorong Selatan Regency. "Local government must review some agreements with the future investment companies," kata Ajamsaru said. (Nees Makuba/rom)