Indon palm oil firm cleared of charges

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s biggest palm oil producer said yesterday it had been cleared of allegations made by environmental group Greenpeace that it had destroyed high conservation-value forests on Borneo.A report commissioned by SMART, part of the Singapore-listed Sinar Mas agri-business group, found that it was not to blame for widespread destruction of Borneo’s forests as repeatedly alleged by Greenpeace, the company said.“The report concluded that the allegations were largely unfounded and that SMART was not responsible for deforestation of primary forests and the destruction of orangutan habitats,” SMART president Daud Dharsono said.The investigation was carried out by Control Union Certifications and BSI Group.SMART, the Indonesian palm oil unit of its Singapore-listed parent company Golden Agri Resources (GAR) and part of the Sinar Mas agri-industry empire, commissioned the probe in February after the claims were first made by Greenpeace.Greenpeace accuses SMART of widespread forest destruction, including clearing primary forests and peatland.GAR has lost major clients including Unilever, Kraft and Nestle over environmental concerns.SMART’S Dharsono said yesterday: “All the land in the 11 concessions examined comprised of secondary forests, degraded and shrub land and were no longer primary forests before SMART started land clearing and planting.” –AFP