Great Place to Work & Live: Community Development

SD Guthrie conducts Social & Environmental Impact Assessments (SEIA) as part of our standard operating procedures before any development begins. Such assessments aim to identify potential environmental or social issues and set out appropriate actions needed to address them.

Requirements for SEIA are extended to our suppliers to ensure our entire supply chain adheres to local SEIA regulations and those outlined in our Responsible Sourcing Guidelines. We fully respect the customary rights of the communities in the areas that we operate. We also recognise the United Nations Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples in our planting procedures.

Our teams engage with community leaders and the communities who could be impacted by projects before any development can commence. We share our plan of action for the specific area in a forum session, allowing the community to share its views. We will not proceed with any development in an area without the express approval from the community or its elected representatives.

Stakeholder engagement is integral to our business. Our key stakeholders include shareholders, customers, employees, non-governmental organisations, industry groups, and government agencies. Our engagements vary from formal to informal, and we evaluate all issues for their potential impact on stakeholders and our business.

Our operations conduct periodic engagements with the local communities to discuss issues in order to resolve conflicts or potential conflicts. This is managed locally by the operating units. However, if an issue cannot be resolved, operating units will request for further support from the Regional Management or Head Office functions. In some cases, local civil society organisations are invited to assist in dialogues to reach an amicable agreement between parties. All dialogues are minuted and communicated to community members for their agreement.

The stakeholder engagement process is verified by external parties during the sustainability certification process. For example, in the annual RSPO and MSPO Certification, the accredited Certification Bodies will send out Public Notification Letters to stakeholders for engagement (click on the links to view examples of notifications from Malaysia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea/Solomon Islands) and stakeholders are invited to provide written input regarding the assessment by commenting on related aspects to the certification unit on the following topics but not limited to:

• Environmental protection & conservation
• Human rights & workers welfare
• Opportunity for employment
• Company approach to community development
• Participation in decision making
• Free, prior and informed consent
• Suggestion for improvement

The outcome from the stakeholder engagement process will be made available on the RSPO Public Summary Reports website. Click on the link to view examples of the reports from Malaysia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea/Solomon Islands.

The Group initiates social development programmes that benefit the communities located near our operations, particularly upstream operations across Malaysia, Indonesia, PNG and SI. These are targeted to address the prevailing needs of the community while providing employees of SD Guthrie the opportunity to volunteer their time and effort towards community development.

Disaster relief: We are committed to providing assistance during natural disasters to support affected communities. The Group has provided aid to those impacted by the floods in Malaysia, as well as the earthquake in Cianjur, Indonesia. Additionally, aid was extended to families affected by a fire in Tawau, Malaysia.

Festive cheer: SD Guthrie and our volunteers brought festive cheer to the less privileged by donating food and other basic necessities to families in need. These initiatives were conducted in conjunction with major festivals in Malaysia.

Education: In addition to providing back-to-school aid for children from B40 families, the Group also funded fire prevention programmes for 5 schools in the Riau province of Indonesia and equipped libraries at Milne Bay and West New Britain estates in PNG. https://www.nbpol.com/partnership-with-people.html

Environmental: SD Guthrie volunteers collected more than 2,000kg of rubbish from beach and river clean ups in Selangor, Malaysia in a joint programme with YSD and Fuze Ecoteer. The Group also engaged the community on a project to restore the mangrove at West New Britain estate, PNG.

Clean water: The Group initiated projects for clean water supply to villages near West New Britain estate and Higaturu estate, both in PNG. In Indonesia, we installed reverse osmosis (RO) water stations in all workers’ housing areas, eliminating the need for bottled water.

Empowerment of women: SD Guthrie funded women’s support groups in promoting the empowerment of women to curb gender-based violence and improve gender equality in PNG.

Solar Lighting: To enhance essential facilities, particularly those located within our operations and neighbouring communities in PNG and SI, we installed solar lighting at 4 rural health centres, along with comfortable seating benches at the aid post. Solar lamps were also presented to the Ubai Community in Malaysia and distributed to individual households, places of worship and the communities.

We want to make a difference and enrich the lives of all people within and surrounding our operations. We often do this by supporting local communities, by building infrastructure to improve access, providing aid in times of need and creating opportunities for economic development.

For most of our operations that are located in remote and rural areas, we support and sometimes take on the role of building or rebuilding infrastructure and facilities such as roads, community halls and health centres. We also set up facilities that help improve or provide access to basic needs such as clean water, sanitation, and education. Through our operations, we also aim to support the livelihoods of local communities through job opportunities, economic growth and alternative and sustainable livelihood training.

Together with the Sime Darby Foundation (Yayasan Sime Darby), we have supported Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes that promote environmental stewardship, community health and well-being, access to universal education, and employee volunteering programmes.
For more information on Yayasan Sime Darby, please visit: https://www.yayasansimedarby.com/