Open letter from CEO of Herlakles Farms in response to report on ...

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As their social corporate responsibly is concerned Herakles Farm hastaunted people before with the so-called memoranda <strong>of</strong> understand<strong>in</strong>g with thelocal populations. Mr. Bruce himself says that they have a memorandum <strong>of</strong>understand<strong>in</strong>g with each village which is false. There are only two documents- oneallegedly signed for the people <strong>of</strong> the Nguti segment <strong>of</strong> the project and the otherfor Mundemba and Toko Sub Divisions. Even a beg<strong>in</strong>ner <strong>in</strong> the study <strong>of</strong> the law <strong>of</strong>contract will have no difficulty <strong>in</strong> dismiss<strong>in</strong>g the documents as be<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>validcontracts. When I first read these documents, I could hardly associate them withHerakles <strong>Farms</strong> which had produced a document such as the “establishmentconvention”And as I have said on several occasions before these documents were not signed onbehalf <strong>of</strong> SG SOC, and as such, they are not legally b<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>g even if other issuessuch as the capacity <strong>of</strong> those who purported <strong>to</strong> sign the documents on behalf <strong>of</strong> thecommunities are ignored.e. Irrevocable Environmental Impact: So much has already been said by specialistson the issue <strong>of</strong> the unsusta<strong>in</strong>ability <strong>of</strong> the SG SOC oil palm project because <strong>of</strong> itsprobable negative impacts on the environment <strong>of</strong> the area. Herakles <strong>Farms</strong> claimsthat they are environmentalists and that they have conducted all necessary studies<strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g HCV. I do not know if Mr. Bruce has forgotten so soon that the so calledHCV <strong>report</strong> they purported <strong>to</strong> have conducted on the SG SOC concession receivedan unfavourable review by the HCV Resource Network Technical Panel PeerReview <strong>of</strong> April 2012.Furthermore, SG SOC <strong>in</strong> their bus<strong>in</strong>ess plan state that they <strong>in</strong>tend <strong>to</strong> build five oilmills <strong>in</strong> the project area. Neither the chosen locations <strong>of</strong> the mills nor their impactson the environment are mentioned <strong>in</strong> their environmental and social ImpactAssessment <strong>report</strong> which they published <strong>in</strong> August, 2012. Is this what Herakles<strong>Farms</strong> mean when they claim <strong>to</strong> be environmentalists?d. Opposition <strong>to</strong> the Project: I wish also <strong>to</strong> correct some mistakes made by Mr.Burce <strong>in</strong> his analysis <strong>of</strong> the events that occurred <strong>in</strong> Fabe. He gives Fabe primacyout <strong>of</strong> proportion <strong>in</strong> his calculations <strong>of</strong> the acceptance and opposition <strong>to</strong> the SGSOC project. There is noth<strong>in</strong>g peculiar about Fabe village apart <strong>from</strong> the fact that itis one <strong>of</strong> the villages host<strong>in</strong>g one <strong>of</strong> the oil palm nurseries. Mr. Bruce ismis<strong>in</strong>terpret<strong>in</strong>g the usual euphoria and excitement shown by people when strangers
come <strong>in</strong><strong>to</strong> their village as a general acceptance <strong>of</strong> their project. That is verymislead<strong>in</strong>g. What happened <strong>in</strong> Fabe is that not long after the <strong>in</strong>itial excitementbegan <strong>to</strong> go down the people began <strong>to</strong> see the SG SOC masquerade- promisesmade which were never <strong>in</strong>tended <strong>to</strong> be met, lies and <strong>in</strong>fluence peddl<strong>in</strong>g. Thepeople came <strong>to</strong> realize that their chief had led them by the nose <strong>in</strong><strong>to</strong> accept<strong>in</strong>g theestablishment <strong>of</strong> SG SOC nursery <strong>in</strong> their village. They, therefore, rose <strong>in</strong> revolt.They blocked the road lead<strong>in</strong>g <strong>to</strong> the nursery, placed traditional <strong>in</strong>junctions thereonand asked that the workers <strong>of</strong> the company liv<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> the village <strong>to</strong> leave. This was aspontaneous reaction <strong>of</strong> the villagers without the <strong>in</strong>fluence <strong>of</strong> any outside person ororganization.What happened on June 6, 2012? A few days before June 6, it was announced thatthe newly appo<strong>in</strong>ted Governor <strong>of</strong> the South West was go<strong>in</strong>g <strong>to</strong> make a maiden visit<strong>to</strong> Toko on 06/06/2012. Toko is the headquarters <strong>of</strong> Toko Sub Division <strong>in</strong> NdianDivision. SEFE decided <strong>to</strong> seize the occasion <strong>of</strong> the visit <strong>of</strong> the august guest <strong>to</strong> theSub Division <strong>to</strong> draw the attention <strong>of</strong> the government <strong>to</strong> the fact that the people <strong>of</strong>the area were not satisfied with the SG SOC oil palm project. This is what nongovernmentalorganisations do normally <strong>to</strong> draw government attention <strong>to</strong> thecauses they stand for. Thus SEFE with<strong>in</strong> the short time mobilized its followers <strong>to</strong>stage a peaceful demonstration at Tokoon the day <strong>of</strong> the Governor’s visit, ands<strong>in</strong>ce it was most unlikely that the Ndian adm<strong>in</strong>istration would allow SEFErepresentatives <strong>to</strong> have any dialogue with the Governor, it was decided that silentmessages by way <strong>of</strong> banners, T-shirts and placards with the <strong>in</strong>scriptions mentionedby Mr. Bruce be used as means <strong>of</strong> pass<strong>in</strong>g across the SEFE message. So, thedemonstrations <strong>of</strong> 6/6/2012 did not take place at Fabe village whichadm<strong>in</strong>istratively is even with<strong>in</strong> Mundemba Sub Division.CONCLUSION:I would like <strong>to</strong> advice Herakles <strong>Farms</strong> that it is not by mudsl<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>g that they willdevelop their oil palm plantation. They need <strong>to</strong> acknowledge that, may be due <strong>to</strong>improper advice and <strong>in</strong>sufficient knowledge, their concept <strong>of</strong> the project waswrong <strong>from</strong> the beg<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>g. If they still desire <strong>to</strong> go on with the project, they have<strong>to</strong> re-design it all over, and they should be grateful <strong>to</strong> all persons and <strong>in</strong>stitutions
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Page 5: What returns to th

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