Kuala Lumpur, Mon. - Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) today urged the Federal government to intensify efforts aimed at revitalising the cocoa sub-sector and thereby correct public perception that "cocoa is a forgotten crop and a sunset industry."

Bandau MP Dr Maximus Ongkili said in the last ten years cocoa has been relegated to a minor crop from once the darling of the agricultural sector particularly in Sabah, despite the existence of the Malaysian Cocoa Board (MCB) since 1989.

Speaking during the debate on the Akta Lembaga Koko Malaysia (Perbadanan) (Pindaan) 2000 in parliament this afternoon, Ongkili said the activities of the MCB had become less visible in terms of conduct of seminars, promotional and educational activities, publication, and general dissemination of research findings.

"This inactive image is happening at the time when most people have given up hope on cocoa resulting in large cocoa estates being replaced with oil palm almost over night. The situation does not give much confidence to investors in the industry.

"In Sabah the sheer attraction of investors to the oil palm industry has led to massive loss of excellent genetic materials produced over decades of research in large cocoa farms. These farms were simply leveled, bulldozed by tractors or burnt to make way for oil palm," he claimed.

Ongkili who is also PBS deputy president said it was only in the last six months that some estates and smallholders began to rehabilitate their cocoa farms "when the price of oil palm plunged, which by then was it too late."

"Despite the perennial problem of cocoa pests and diseases, the crop remains profitable to plant. Furthermore since the crop is neutral to scale, it is suitable to be planted by smallholders in the rural areas found suitable for the crop.

"So long as there is market for the produce at the district level and good advisory service available, small farmers can plant the crop as a means to improve income and overcome poverty," he suggested.

Ongkili urged the MCB to intensify its activities and ensure the additional functions accorded by the new amendments to the Act were implemented effectively, including marketing and licensing, sale of research findings and services, and sole undertaker of applied research on cocoa, and in the process revitalise the cocoa industry.