September

In response to recent concerns over the hiring of parolees in its Malaysian operations, Sime Darby Plantation (SDP) reaffirms our pledge and commitment to protecting the rights of all our workers including the parolees who have voluntarily agreed to a paid placement in our plantations under the Corporate Smart Internship (CSI) programme held in collaboration with the Malaysian Prison Department (MPD).

Sime Darby Plantation Berhad (SDP), the world’s largest producer of certified sustainable palm oil (CSPO), and Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), the country’s leading research university in agriculture and forestry, announced a collaboration to conduct a research program on the secondary forest located within SDP’s Sapong Estate in Sabah.

We refer to the report by Mightyearth.org which alleged an occurrence of deforestation within Sime Darby Plantation’s (SDP) boundary at Derawan Estate in Bintulu, Sarawak between 19 February 2019 to 23 August 2019.

With reference to a news report by Reuters entitled ‘Indonesia hits back at Malaysia over forest fires’ dated 13th September 2019, Sime Darby Plantation Berhad (SDP) would like to clarify that as at 4.00pm (GMT +8) today, 13 September 2019, there has not been any action taken by the Indonesian Authorities to seal off the operations of PT Sime Indo Agro (PT SIA) due to fire occurrence.

Sime Darby Plantation Berhad (SDP) today streamlines the rate of minimum wage for all its workers throughout the Company’s operations in Malaysia, in anticipation of the new national rate that the government will enforce in January 2019.

Sime Darby Plantation, the world’s largest producer of certified sustainable palm oil, launched its Responsible Agriculture Charter (RAC) today to improve its agriculture practices further through responsible and sustainable agricultural development.

We refer to an article published on Mongabay on 14 September headlined Liberia land policy a ‘challenge to national development’. Sime Darby Plantation would like to categorically state that it is not involved in any ‘land grabs’.