InfoSAWIT, JAKARTA – In the latest progress, Complaint Panel of Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) firmly sentenced PT Bakrie Sumatera Plantations Tbk, the main company of PT Grahadura Leidong Prima, for the complaint from the community representatives.

The complaint was told on 23 November 2023 and said that PT Grahadura Leidong Prima failed to fulfill its commitment to facilitate and develop plasma plantations for the people. In specific, the company was claimed not to follow up the agreement made and ignored to deliver information needed about plasma plantation and conservation partnership developments.

As what InfoSAWIT got, Monday (2/9/2024), to follow up the accusation, Complaint Panel of RSPO independently started investigating the case as the procedures to verify the claims. But in the investigation process, PT Bakrie Sumatera Plantations Tbk., officially resigned from RSPO membership. It was officially told to RSPO Secretariat on 12 August 2024.

Even though the company resigned, Complaint Panel of RSPO continued the investigation, consideration, and noted that there was significant postponement from the reported one during the process. “This is categorized as the postponement to formally deliver its response and failure to effectively participate in complaint solution mechanism that RSPO Secretariat proposed,” RSPO Complaint Panel noted on 26 August 2024.

In the sentences, Complaint Panel concluded that what PT Bakrie Sumatera Plantations Tbk., had conducted during the complaint process, was not satisfied and broke the ethic code of the 2022 RSPO membership particularly about transparency and conflict solution.

As the result, by having its authority based on RSPO regulation, the Complaint Panel of RSPO stopped the membership of PT Bakrie Sumatera Plantations Tbk from RSPO. The sentence emphasized the commitment of RSPO to deliver justice about sustainable practices in palm oil industries, and confirmed the accountability for its members.

In the future, Complaint Panel of RSPO would recommend RSPO Boards of Governor about the implication and action that would be happening from the case. This progress significantly means the important thing to deliver ethics standards in palm oil sectors, reinforce the roles of RSPO to promote sustainable practices and transparency for the whole members. (T2)