Genting denies Greenpeace claims of burning forests

Greenpeace activists holding placards condemning Genting Plantations outside Wisma Genting in Kuala Lumpur yesterday (Greenpeace pic).

KUALA LUMPUR: Genting Group today said the conglomerate is committed to the implementation of the zero burning policy in the development of its oil palm plantations.

The group said its subsidiary, Genting Plantations Bhd, has been a member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) since 2006 and implements sustainable criteria in all of its operations, which includes the implementation of the policy.

Genting said this in a statement in response to Greenpeace’s article on Indonesia’s forest fire crisis, in which it listed the plantation arm of the conglomerate as being among the top 10 groups with the largest areas of burned land in Indonesia between 2015 and 2018.

“We are unable to comment on the accuracy of Greenpeace’s data, but based on the Indonesian environment and forestry ministry’s map, the burnt areas are predominantly outside the concession of our Indonesian subsidiary, PT Globalindo Agung Lestari.

“Additionally, Greenpeace’s map may have also included areas with hotspots which are not owned by PT Globalindo Agung Lestari,” Genting Group said.

The group however noted that according to its 2016-2018 internal data, 6.8ha of PT Globalindo Agung Lestari’s land experienced burning during that period.

“This aside, we also noted that some 203ha of community-owned land encountered burning. These lands were cultivated with other crops and not with oil palm,” it said.

It said Genting Plantations has established a satellite and drone hotspot monitoring system to assist the surveillance by the internal fire patrol teams.

If a fire breaks out, its fire patrol teams will immediately report it to the local police and Disbun Perkebunan, the local plantation agency, along with pictorial evidence and details of action taken within 24 hours.

“The fire team will also work with the authorities and local communities to extinguish the fire in the shortest possible time.

“Additionally, we will also report it to the RSPO through the Internal Fire Hotspot Monitoring form,” it added. - FMT