Jakarta – Several NGOs presented reports on issues surrounding palm oil plantations while palm oil stakeholders gathered in Jakarta from Monday to Thursday. The activists said human rights violations topped the list of problems.
The Center for Democracy and Human Rights Studies (Demos), the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (Elsam), the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) and 22 other NGOs claimed the development of plantations resulted in conflict between companies and locals.
During a workshop coinciding with the 8th annual Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), the NGOs issued a declaration demanding that plantation companies stop abusing the rights of indigenous communities and plantation workers.
The NGOs said 12 of the RSPO members were involved in conflicts centering on the legal status of land and workers' rights.
The National Commission for Human Rights said 30 percent of the 5,000 complaints filed to the commission were related to land conflicts between companies and people living nearby. "The government is deaf to our cries," Elsam's Indriaswati D. Saptaningrum said.
The 12 plantation companies have taken land belonging to the people living near their operational sites, and resorted to practices bordering on slavery in the treatment of workers, including women and children, the NGOs said. They demanded the RSPO play a more significant role in settling conflicts between companies and locals and workers by upholding human rights.
The most recent conflict took place in Tanjung Jabung Barat, Jambi, on Monday. Local police allegedly shot into a crowd of 1,500 protesters who were blocking boats owned by a palm oil company PT Wikakarya Sakti (a subsidiary of the Sinar Mas Group) from transporting crude palm oil. Ahmad Adam, a 45-year-old local resident, was killed, while three others were injured in the incident.
Meanwhile, Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) is working with local NGO Borneo People Contact to investigate allegations of corruption by 13 palm oil companies. "There are indications these companies have been bribing local administrations," Safruddin of Borneo People Contact said Thursday.
Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association secretary-general Joko Supriyono said the accusations made by the NGOs were groundless.