HERE, I will have to break from my stories and write about a recent piece of news. I had read in the press about the change of name and the new logo for the company that was once called Sime Darby Plantations. I had worked for the company for over 14 years, and naturally, I like to keep track of its progress.
It has grown since 2006 through the merger with Golden Hope, which had brought big areas, and its refineries here and overseas had added to the downstream activities of refining palm oil into higher-value oils and fats. The plantation areas were increased further through Kumpulan Guthrie, with even bigger areas of plantations in Malaysia and Indonesia.
However, the name Guthrie had been nearly forgotten, although the brand had been built from 200 years ago when Alexander Guthrie was a pioneer in planting rubber and oil palm.
The Group Managing Director Datuk Mohamad Helmy Othman Basha, having come from the Guthrie side in the merger, must have listened to the voices of his colleagues and cannot ignore history. He has explained the name change to SD Guthrie Berhad. The logo has the colour of ripe loose fruit and he explained that it also depicts yin and yang.
Haris Arshad is the group’s chief operating officer overseeing the upstream operations in Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, and he has also explained the change of name.
He has come from the downstream side, Sime Darby Oils, which he still leads. Now he says it is also easier for new customers to understand his business and not be confused with plantations of banana or pineapples. The new name will be a reminder to capitalise on change to make the group grow even bigger.
Another explanation that made me sit up was by Mohd Azlan Shah Mohd Zin, who had said in the press that he was working in the upstream business of SD Guthrie in the South Pacific. He is the chief executive officer of New Britain Palm Oil Ltd, with responsibilities for the plantations, cattle and sugar business as well as research.
I can remember when Sime Darby lost to Kulim Group on the bid late in the last century and the despondence felt in the office, and it is good that now NBPOL is in the group at last. It was acquired in March 2015, and NBPOL is an excellent business for many reasons.
It is located on the islands with 147,000ha of land, most of it planted with oil palm on mainly volcanic soil. The showcase plantations and cattle areas are on the island of New Britain. On New Ireland next to it is another plantation, that stretches along the sea, in one of the best settings in the world.
On the mainland, in Oro Province, the plantation is around Popondetta, and the villagers are encouraged to plant their areas and sell their crops to the mill.
Another large plantation is at Milne Bay, further south. On the Ramu plateau, the cane fields feed the mill that supplies sugar for the domestic market. In 2018, the business had also acquired a plantation in the Markham Valley, close to the airport at Lae.
The business has over 30,000 head of cattle under the palm trees growing in avenues that allow for them to graze. The Dami oil palm research station produces seeds of superb quality, that the yield of palms can be exceptional and with a high oil content.
Mohd Azlan, 60, had joined Kumpulan Guthrie in 1987 and had worked in Aceh and other provinces in Indonesia. By the time he arrived, he already had the international experience that helped him to meet the many challenges that can come from working in remote places.
Due to long distances, Mohd Azlan visits most of the plantations by air. Similarly, he has to fly to the Solomon Islands to visit the plantation on the Lunga Plain. It was first developed by the Commonwealth Development Corporation, and it is also on fertile soil with high yield.
I have visited many of the areas of NBPOL and I was most impressed. The standard of work was high and nature helped with the soil, sun and rain. These factors are useful for the managers who work there. The loose fruits are the reddest I have seen.
With the wide area, Mohd Azlan has responsibility for the biggest business in agriculture in the South Pacific islands. It far exceeds the role of any figures in the past, including copra traders and others, many of whom could fill the stage of famous people.
One can include Errol Flynn, who worked on a coconut plantation for about five years before he was discovered by Hollywood and became a success as a swashbuckling hero.
Other names include Lt Cdr Lyndon Johnson, who was with the US Air Force and took part in the raid on Lae in the war. Another decorated hero was Lt John F. Kennedy, whose ship was sunk by the Japanese in the Solomon Islands and he managed to survive. Both became presidents of the United States.
There were others, lured by the beauty of the islands, the sea and the sand but the settlements are now gone.
Most companies that were big are also gone. Burns Philp was a ship-owner that had a monopoly of cargo transport but it is not in that line anymore.
Fairymead, which had plantations, was sold to Lever Solomons Ltd. That in turn was sold over twenty years ago. The old company W.R. Carpenter, a trader and plantation owner, is now owned by Malaysians, with plantations on the highlands, including tea. It also exports cocoa and coffee. A Belgian company, SIPEF, operates an oil palm plantation in Bialla in West New Britain.
With the biggest presence in the South Pacific, NBPOL has become a big contributor to the economy and it is the second biggest employer in PNG.
The company gets involved with the community by providing tube wells for water supply to over 7,000 communities and has a breeding programme for the Queen Alexandra Birdwing Butterfly, and sets aside large areas for flora and fauna biodiversity.
It is also a big employer of Melanesians, with many getting training in plantation management. It can also offer more Malaysians the opportunity to work overseas.
As Mohd Azlan has said over coffee on his short visit home, managing with different staff and communities can help one meet the challenges at work, and prepare for more responsibilities. The process will take step by step. In this way, SD Guthrie can grow internationally.
In my view, the plantations have great potential for improvement, such as getting a higher level of palm oil production per hectare, and engineers and research scientists may find new ways of harvesting or processing. Changes in thinking can come from inside, needed for SD Guthrie to build on the past.
The change of name and logo is a good start.
The writer has extensive experience in the management of oil palm plantations. Comments: letters@thesundaily.com
