Press Releases

Jakarta, Singapore, 28 June 2011 – PT SMART Tbk (SMART) publishes the social research report today as part of its follow-up action to the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) Grievance Panel. The social research study focused on the issues arising from the development of some oil palm plantations in West Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan.

SMART engaged Tanjungpura University (UNTAN), Faculty of Agriculture, West Kalimantan, and was assisted by Palangkaraya University, Faculty of Agriculture, Central Kalimantan, to conduct the social research. These two universities commenced work in November 2010. The research team was led by Syamsuni Arman who is a Professor Emeritus in Public Administration at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences of Tanjungpura University in Pontianak.

For the field study, three research teams from Tanjungpura University in Pontianak and five research teams from the University of Palangkaraya in Palangkaraya visited a total of 28 villages and conducted 32 focus group discussions, in-depth interviews with 136 informal leaders and structured interviews with 202 formal leaders, community individuals and company employees. The field visits were made during the months of November 2010 – March 2011.

The social research report detailing the findings and recommendations is available in full in Bahasa: http://www.smart-tbk.com/pdfs/Announcements/20110628-SMART-Laporan-Penelitian-Sosial.pdf and
English: http://www.smart-tbk.com/pdfs/Announcements/20110628-SMART-Social-Research-Report.pdf

SMART will review the findings and recommendations by the social research team and develop an action plan to incorporate these into its Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), as well as Social and Community Engagement Policy, which its parent company Golden Agri-Resources is developing in collaboration with The Forest Trust (TFT), an international non-profit organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland. GAR and TFT are also in the process of developing a Yield Improvement Policy as part of its holistic approach to sustainable palm oil production.

For further information please contact:

For Singapore:
Ang Shih-Huei / Claire Yong Pelham Bell Pottinger Asia Tel : (65) 6333 3449
Fax             : (65) 6333 3446
Cell             : (65) 9189 1039 / (65) 9185 0761
Email         : sang@pbp.asia / cyong@pbp.asia

For Indonesia:
Yasmine Sagita Corporate Affairs
Tel              : (62 – 21) 318 1388
Fax             : (62 – 21) 318 1390
Cell             : (62 – 881) 99 32548
Email         : yasmine-sagita@smart-tbk.com