Malaysia's December Palm Oil Output Hurt By Floods

Malaysia's palm oil output is likely to fall 18 percent this month from November, as floods and heavy rains have inundated plantations is key producing states, industry officials and producers said on Tuesday.

Floods and monsoon rains over the past week have cut off roads leading to palm estates in several states, including Kelantan and Terengganu in the east and Johor in the south, making it difficult to harvest palm fruits and transport them to the mills.

"I think December production is going to be down. At this stage it is difficult to say how much but the estimate for 2007 production is 15.5 to 15.7 million tonnes," Sabri Ahmad, chairman of Malaysian Palm Oil Board, told Reuters. M. R. Chandran, an independent industry analyst and a former head of Malaysian Palm Oil Association, estimated palm oil output this month to fall 18 percent from November.

"Pahang is bad, Johor is also very bad and some parts of Sarawak have also been affected now," Sabri said. "Harvests will definitely be affected as there will be fruit bunches getting rotten." Malaysian crude palm oil futures eased 0.7 percent by midday on Tuesday as players booked profits and crude oil slipped. But the contract had strengthened by 1.5 percent on Monday to finish at 2,975 ringgit a tonne, boosted by robust demand amid worries that rain and floods had affected harvest and transport activities.

Palm planters in flood-hit areas said their output is likely to decline 20 to 30 percent this month. "Fruits cannot be taken out from the estates and as a result we cannot run the mills," said Kelvin Tan, general manager of Prosper Group, which owns 40,000 acres (16,000 hectares) of palm plantations in central Pahang state.

"When the rains stop, the fruits that will be coming to the market will be over-ripe and some may even be rotten." Tan said the company's palm oil output in the first half of December fell 30 percent from November.

Another palm planter, who owns estates in Johor in the south and Sabah on the Borneo island said his output was down 20 percent. Malaysian Meteorological Department has issued a forecast of moderate to heavy rains over the next two days in Johor, Kelantan, Terengganu and Sarawak states, news agency Bernama reported on Tuesday.
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SMART's Floodwater Tunnel Starts Operations

For all you doubting Thomases, here is a bit of good news from Bernama.

The SMART floodwater tunnel is fully operational starting from today, one week ahead of schedule.

Announcing this, Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) Director-General Datuk Paduka Keizrul Abdullah said the tunnel was expected to be able to reduce the level of floodwater in the city by 45 per cent.

However, it would depend on the rainfall on the Sungai Klang side, he told reporters after a forum on flood management in the Klang Valley/Kuala Lumpur at Universiti Malaya here.

He said SMART (the Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel) would divert 90 per cent of Sungai Klang flood discharges into the Kampung Berembang holding basin and then to the storage pond in Taman Desa.

"Basically, we are controlling the quantity of flood discharges from Sungai Klang especially near Masjid Jamek," he said.

One should bear in mind that 55 per cent of the floodwater in the city was due to the overflowing of Sungai Gombak and Sungai Batu that cut across the Klang Valley, Keizrul said.

He said SMART was part of the Flood Mitigation Project in Kuala Lumpur approved by the government in 2002 which also included the construction of holding ponds in Batu and Jinjang.

The two ponds were expected to be completed by year end and they would reduce flood discharges from Sungai Batu and Sungai Gombak in the city, he said.

Other measures currently being taken were the widening of Sungai Kerayong and Sungai Damansara and the construction of the Sri Johor holding pond.

Keizrul said floods in the city caused by the overflowing of rivers would be overcome completely when all the components in the Flood Mitigation Project were completed in early 2008.

***** So there you have it. Total freedom from the flood menace from early 2008. Anyone out there who is not convinced? For our own sake I hope the Smart Tunnel remains smart.
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Kuala Lumpur Flooded

Received via SMS Alert.

Parts of Kuala Lumpur was hit by flash floods just now with the Dataran Merdeka being the worst hit area. Some basement car parks have also been flooded.

All major roads in Kuala Lumpur are at a standstill as a result of this flooding. The Masjid Jamek LRT station has been closed as access to the station was cut off by water.

No casualties have been reported so far.

Interesting, related news: Smart Tunnel Toll Collection Begins Midnight Friday

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Update: Six Hurt After Storm Lashes City