THE Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is investigating some of the fires that started on plantation lands in Indonesia of companies that have been certified by the body, Malaysiakini reports.

This is as per RSPO’s standard procedure when a hotspot is detected, the certification body’s CEO Darrel Webber was quoted as saying.

The RSPO’s Investigation and Monitoring Unit (IMU) will verify with its member companies whether the fires are being put out, he added. 

“The IMU has been in contact with the RSPO members allegedly linked to the recent fires in Indonesia for further information and verification. Some of these members issued announcements on this matter last week.

“As of now, the respective certification bodies will conduct the necessary investigations,” Webber told the news portal.

He said any RSPO member found deliberately using fire to clear land could face sanctions after going through due process.

RSPO standards require that plantation companies do not use burning as a means to clear land.

The four Malaysian companies whose Indonesian subsidiaries were implicated by authorities there for land fires contributing to the ongoing transboundary haze all have a zero-burning policy.

Indonesian environment minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar had named IOI Corporation, Sime Darby Plantation, TDM Bhd and Kuala Lumpur Kepong (KLK) Bhd.

IOI Corp and Sime Darby have denied that their lands were sealed off for fire investigations, 

KLK has confirmed that there was burning on its subsidiary’s land in Riau, Sumatra, and TDM also admitted to fire in its Indonesian subsidiary’s estate.

These companies are also members of the Malaysian Palm Oil Association (MPOA), which has refuted allegations that the firms caused the fires.

Instead the MPOA said the fires are started on independent smallholdings which then spread out of control. – September 19, 2019.