PALMOILMAGAZINE, JAKARTA – Astra Agro (AALI), a palm oil plantation company and subsidiary of Astra International, has officially released a comprehensive report conducted by a third-party independent entity in response to allegations raised by civil organizations regarding three of its subsidiaries operating in Sulawesi.
These allegations stem from a report published by Wahana Lingkungan Hidup Indonesia (Walhi) and Friends of the Earth (FoE) in 2022.
In March 2023, AALI engaged Eco Nusantara (ENS) to conduct a thorough and independent review of the complaints. Throughout this process, stakeholders were provided with regular updates, disseminated over a two-week period, which the company published on its website.
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AALI acknowledges and respects the efforts of ENS in gathering field facts and data over the course of eight months, recognizing the intricacies and challenges involved in the process. The report also addresses the complexity of land issues, highlighting interactions not only between the company and the local communities but also the dynamics among the villagers themselves. For a detailed overview of the comprehensive report, interested parties can refer to the company’s official website.
During the investigation, ENS and AALI emphasized openness to every stakeholder’s participation and in specific, the two wanted to get additional proofs about complaints and claims from the villagers, individuals, and civil organizations.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) ENS, Zulfahmi said that in such complex independent assessment like what ENS did, they always encouraged every party, stakeholder, civil, to transparently cooperate to get real field facts. ENS respected every party’s decision during verification process.
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Zulfahmi told ENS and AALI would open to get every available proof. ENS believed that every stakeholder should have the main thing needed, that is, to go forward.
“We do realize that there was no report that would deliver satisfaction for every party. But once again, we believe that AALI is open to get every clear information and evidences that other stakeholders have had and committed to get the best to solve every issue,” he said, as in the official statement to Palmoilmagazine.com, Monday (27/11/2023).
Meanwhile, CEO AALI, Santosa said that AALI thought that what ENS verified would be the positive for every stakeholder, delivering comprehensive assessment about the accusation. AALI believed that the report would deliver description for other stakeholders what really happened in the field.
He also mentioned, AALI would focus on the time to assimilate and propose action plans to implement the recommendation in the report.
“We invite and encourage every party that is interest in or does care about solving the issue, or wants to help the villagers to be part of this process. We would publish every update in the process for every stakeholder,” Santosa said. (T2)
