M'sian firms linked to palm burning

The source of the thick smoke is the rampant burning of scrub-land in Sumatra’s Riau and Jambi to make way for new planting and replanting of oil palms.

Malaysia has openly criticised Indonesia for its “slash and burn” oil palm cultivation, but Indonesia retaliated by claiming the culprits were mostly subsidiaries of Malaysia-based plantation companies.

Generally, over 5 per cent of oil palm plantations in Sumatra, Kalimantan and Sulawesi belong to Malaysian planters, either via long-term concession or joint ventures.

In a bid to end the blame game, Malaysia’s newly appointed Environment and Natural Resources Minister G Palanivel is visiting Jakarta today to meet representatives of Malaysian-owned plantations and also hold discussions with Indonesia’s Environment Minister Balthasar Kambuaya.

Balthasar announced late last week that 14 companies had been identified and were being probed for open burning. Eight are Malaysia-owned, namely PT Langgam Inti Hiberida, PT Bumi Rakksa Sejati, PT Tunggal Mitra Plantation (PTTMP), PT Udaya Loh Dinawi, PT Adei Plantation, PT Jatim Jaya Perkasa, PT Multi Gambut Industri and PT Mustika Agro Lestari. More significantly, Malaysia’s top plantation giants, Sime and KLK, have been implicated in the open burning.

It is believed that PTTMP is a unit of Minamas Plantation which is a subsidiary of Sime Darby Bhd, while PT Adei Plantation is a unit of Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd (KLK).

The “zero-burning” policy that is widely advocated among major local plantation companies thus seems to be being violated. “Zero-burning” for oil palm replanting was first introduced commercially by Sime Darby as far back as 1985. Since then, the technique has been made compulsory for all oil palm replanting activities in Malaysia.

The government also imposed a ban on open burning in 1998, with violators liable to  fines of up to 500,000 ringgit (Bt4.86 million). 

However, some observers say “irresponsible” local planters tend to overlook the zero-burning policy, especially when their estates are located deep in the jungles of Kalimantan or Sumatra away from the authorities’ prying eye.

On the other hand, both Sime Darby and KLK have insisted they maintain a strict zero-burning policy.

Sime Darby has acknowledged that its PTTMP concession area is one of the many hotspots identified but says it is unable to exert control over the activities of local communities beyond its operating areas.

In Indonesia between June and September, it is common for local farmers to undertake open burning for oil palm replanting at their small estates, which are often adjacent to estates owned by big plantation companies.