20/10/2026

BIZ & FINANCE TUESDAY | OCT 20, 2026

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Indonesian palm farmers left high and dry

to run aground, according to Reuters witnesses. Road delivery is a limited alternative, because trucks carry less than barges and fewer are available, millers say. During El Niños in 2015 and 2018, similar droughts lasted for about a month, several local farmers said. But this year the Kapuas has dropped to a lower level and the effects have lasted for two months already. Indonesia’s weather agency expects the start of the rainy season to be pushed back to November, from October normally, delaying the river’s resurgence and relief from the country’s most intense wildfires in 11 years. Thirteen palm oil mills out of 50 in West Kalimantan have been affected by the transportation disruptions, accounting for roughly half of the province’s processing capacity, said

But the strength of the current pattern has parched rivers and wells in Indonesia and fanned forest fires in Borneo – where West Kalimantan is located – and Sumatra that have spread choking haze over the province and as far as Malaysia and Singapore. West Kalimantan accounts for about 11% of palm oil output in Indonesia, the world’s largest producer, and analysts estimate fourth-quarter output across Indonesian Borneo could fall by 12% to 15% because of the El Niño-related disruptions. The Kapuas – Indonesia’s longest river at 1,143km – transports 40% of West Kalimantan’s palm oil output, according to data from the Indonesian Palm Oil Association, known as GAPKI. Sandbanks have emerged from the receding waters of the river, causing several barges and tugboats

with her in-laws, her husband and their young son. She has been fighting the power line for almost two years. “This fight feels akin to a David and Goliath fight,“ she says. She takes heart in how many residents have rallied against tech interests: “The empowerment is unbelievable.” Erika Cook, 42, lives nearby and works remotely for an insurance company. She and her husband raise a few chickens and keep a vegetable garden. They also tap maple trees for syrup in the woods on their property. Part of that land is now the target of an eminent domain proceeding to make room for a huge transmission tower. Republicans dominate at the ballot box in this region. Cook says opposition to data centres has one virtue here: “It’s bringing people together ... across party lines.” – AFP Aris Supratman, who heads GAPKI’s West Kalimantan office. He estimated palm oil supply from the province would fall by about 11% in September from August due to the backup. “Because of the disruption, shipments are being delayed, and once their storage tanks are full, they inevitably have to limit production,” he said. GAPKI has revised down its 2026 national palm oil production forecast by 2.9% as the dry weather slows fruit maturity. Dian Kurniawan, 44, a manager at the Multi Prima Entakai mill that turned Supendi away, said the company’s fruit bunch purchases had dropped to 10,000 tons in September compared to the 30,000 tons it processed in July. As of Oct 1, the mill held 8,200 tons of crude palm oil, near its storage tank capacity of 8,500 tons. “We usually can deliver 2,000 tons in four days, but with trucks sometimes we can only deliver 100 tons per day,” Dian said, adding that truck shipments are not only slower than by barge but also three times the cost. Farmers unable to sell their harvests face difficulties maintaining their palm trees, said Indra Rustandi, who heads the West Kalimantan branch of smallholder farmers group APKASINDO, adding the lack of income has caused some to cut their fertiliser applications by up to 70% to save costs. Another Sanggau smallholder, 63-year-old Rahmat Wiyono, said he struggled to sell his fruit over the last two months, sometimes driving six hours only to be offered 2,650 rupiah (RM0.61) per kg of fruit bunches, compared with three hours to his regular mill, which had paid 3,400 rupiah. “Some of our friends haven’t had any harvest for the past two months, so they have had to find other ways to supplement their daily income” such as selling homemade cakes and donuts, the farmer said. – Reuters

o Mills unable to ship out finished product as river recedes due to El Nino-powered drought

JAKARTA: Supendi, a 33-year-old palm fruit farmer, cooled his heels at a mill in Indonesia’s West Kalimantan for four frustrating days earlier this month trying to unload his harvest of fresh fruit bunches before being told to leave as the site was full. For several weeks, local palm oil mills have cut their fresh fruit bunch purchases because storage tanks are filled with processed oil they cannot ship out as a prolonged drought driven by “super El Niño” conditions has dried out the area’s main transportation artery, the Kapuas River. “The palm fruit was not accepted,” Supendi told Reuters by telephone.

“Now we’re at a loss as to how to sell it.” He had driven from his hometown to the Multi Prima Entakai palm oil mill in the city of Sanggau in early October carrying 7 metric tons of fruit bunches from his small farm and neighbouring ones. He is one of thousands of smallholder farmers in West Kalimantan stuck with rotting fruit. Supendi’s struggles illustrate one of the many impacts of this year’s extreme El Niño in Southeast Asia. The weather phenomenon caused by a warming of the Pacific Ocean waters off South America typically causes hot, dry weather in Southeast Asia.

A drone view shows trucks loaded with oil palm fruit bunches waiting outside the Multi Prima Entakai palm oil mill in Sanggau. – REUTERSPIC

Pennsylvania residents spurn US$10,000 data centre cheques HAZLE TOWNSHIP: On his terrace overlooking the forest in eastern Pennsylvania, Ed Negra lays out four letters. All are from a developer promising a US$10,000 (RM40,825) cheque to each household once its data centre is running. “I call it a bribe,“ says the American retiree. swimming pools, an equestrian center and even a few ski slopes for the winter. “We didn’t know until we heard all the noise” of chainsaws in late 2024, Negra recalls. More than 500 hectares of land below the resort were cleared to build the future server complex. Residents quickly mobilised. those who oppose them. In Hazle Township, residents won a court-ordered halt to construction as well as a municipal moratorium. A few pieces of heavy equipment sit idle on the vast cleared tract. The logs have already been hauled away. But developer NorthPoint Development has not given up. “For a young, struggling couple ... living from paycheck to paycheck, US$10,000 is a lot of money,“ says Jeff Fasnacht, a retired high school teacher who lives in the gated community. Like Negra, he sees the offer as a bribe. He also calls it “a drop in the bucket” compared with how much value his home could lose if the project goes ahead.

They were furious that no one had warned them, and they worried about noise and pollution. Their fight echoes many conflicts across the United States over data centres, which have become an issue in the Nov 3 vote. Local opposition blocked or delayed at least 75 data centre projects in the first three months of 2026, according to Data Centre Watch, which tracks resistance to the industry. And polls show that the hostility crosses party lines. But Republican President Donald Trump fervently backs these projects in the name of US dominance in artificial intelligence, and he chastises

The scene is picture-perfect. Autumn leaves are turning russet, and there is a stunning mountain view in this corner of Pennsylvania, a key state in America’s upcoming midterm elections. “We thought it was a beautiful place to retire,“ says the septuagenarian, who used to manage a large building-supply store in neighboring New Jersey. He and his wife settled in a sprawling gated community with round-the-clock security. Eagle Rock Resort, in Hazle Township, has hundreds of comfortable homes scattered through the woods, two golf courses,

Its letters now flood local mailboxes, saying “there is a lot of misinformation and fear that has circulated about data centres and our project”. The letters also lay out a US$165 million fund for the township and its residents. The money would pay for a new police station, lower trash fees and more. Part of it, US$45 million, is to be paid directly to the 4,500 households once the data centre’s first building goes into service. In the former mining town, one in six residents lives below the poverty line, according to official data.

“This was supposed to be pristine forest forever,“ sighs the golf enthusiast. Neither the developer nor township officials responded to AFP’s requests for comment. Across the valley, residents of rural Sugarloaf Township are fighting a high-voltage power line that is likely intended to supply the data centre. They are not eligible for the possible US$10,000 cheque. “There’s no amount of money that can replace or take away the beauty, the tranquility that we live in,“ says Annie Vinatieri. She shares a house