Letter: Palm oil and vulnerable groups

Letter: Palm oil and vulnerable groups
| Mon, 12/20/2010 10:59 AM | readers forum
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http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/12/20/letter-palm-oil-and-vulnerable-groups.html

Congratulations on the appointment of Ari Lasso and Ms. Audy as Indonesia’s palm oil ambassadors (The Jakarta Post, Dec. 15, p. 28).

I think the palm oil industry is good not only for economic development, state revenue and for creating employment, but should also benefit severely affected smallholders, laborers and vulnerable groups including women, children and indigenous people. The following are my concerns:

My first concern is the impact of the palm oil industry on vulnerable groups, in particular women, children and indigenous people. According to the Office of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Minister, the impact of oil palm plantations on rural women can include: an increase in time and effort to carry out domestic chores through the loss of access to clean and adequate water and wood for fuel and an increase in medical costs due to loss of access to medicinal plants obtained from gardens and forests; loss of food and income from home gardens and cultivated areas; loss of indigenous knowledge and socio-cultural systems; and an increase in domestic violence against women and children due to increased social and economic stresses.

Second, the situation of smallholders in Indonesia has been shown to be especially problematic.

According to several field surveys as well as the testimony of farmers at numerous local, national and international meetings, smallholders in Indonesia suffer from monopsonistic relations with local mills; the unfair allocation of smallholdings; non-transparent processes of land titling; high and manipulated debts; unfair pricing; and debt peonage.

Third, working conditions in the palm oil industry in some cases almost lead to slavery-like practices including physically harsh actions, intimidation, unpaid wages, child exploitation, non-transparent working contracts, inhumane barracks, substandard facilities, improper food, minimal clean and safe drinking water, unpaid overtime, unjustified working targets, dangerous and risky working conditions, etc. amongst identified and recorded prevalent daily conditions.

Those conditions are seemingly known and tolerated by local police officers since they always return the workers back to the plantation companies or contractors when the workers are discovered after running away from plantation operation sites.

Fourth, Indonesia’s palm oil industry lacks enforcement and there is a corrupt judicial system, in many cases featuring the exploitation of legal leniencies and abuses including the illegal use of fire to clear forest; illegal forest clearance prior to receiving permits; illegal clearance of riparian areas; illegal planting on areas of deep peat; clearance of forests and planting of oil palms outside concession areas; failure to pay taxes; failures to compensate titled land owners or customary rights holders; and failure to allocate land to smallholders.

Lastly, we continue to be concerned about the development of the country’s palm oil industry, most recently the detention of more than 120 people who were arrested and jailed for fighting for their individual and collective rights. By October 2010, Sawit Watch has recorded 660 unresolved conflicts between local communities and oil palm plantations all over the country.

Norman Jiwan
Bogor, West Java