PALMOILMAGAZINE, ACEH – Abubakar AR, Chairman of the Serikat Petani Kelapa Sawit (SPKS) Aceh, has called on the Plantation and Agriculture Agency of Aceh Province, as well as plantation agencies in the regencies and cities across Aceh Province, to promptly release the names of palm oil plantation companies.
These companies are required to develop community plantations in areas where they operate, as mandated by Law Number 39/2014. This law obligates plantation companies to allocate 20 percent of their business rights for the development of community plantations.
“There is no real action so far both in the province and regency levels. What really happened? Every company, both the government and the private should implement the obligation with no exception,” he said to Palmoilmagazine.com, Tuesday (13/8/2024).
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Abubakar also said that the companies that claimed to develop plasma plantations or in other forms of cooperation with the smallholders as their obligation, might not be out of the companies’ obligation as mandated in the laws because the smallholders should pay (their obligation) for years.
“Until now, I do not know and see one company in this province that fully implemented the obligation. The related agency should firmly act and confirm that every company should realize their obligation at least, by 31 December 2024,” he said.
He also urged Plantation Agency Aceh Province to be transparent to reveal every company that did not plant in their business rights – plantations. He emphasized that to know abandoned productive areas and should be uploaded to online platform Sistim Informasi Perijinan Perkebunan (Superibun) in Ministry of Agriculture.
“This should be clearly revealed. We would keep monitoring every progress and the agency should be fully transparent,” he said.
He also took every independent smallholder in Aceh to supervise that the companies should realize their obligation to develop the people’s plantations by the late of 2024.
“The agency should confirm that the obligation is a must to welfare the smallholders and the people around (where the companies operate),” he said. (P2)
