Fishy business. The Social Impact of SST.pdf - Act Now!

•the need for institutionalized responses to any event or breach of guidelines for odour andpollution control, noise levels, and over-fishing;The WWF report advises that a contingency plan could be drafted and publicized to allay publicconcerns and invite participation from local NGO’s in establishing monitoring protocols. Weendorse this wholeheartedly, and further suggest that there be public meetings with SSTmanagement to explain such a plan. This could be part of more comprehensive meetingsbetween stakeholders and management regarding loose promises and unrealistic expectations oneveryone’s part. In the meanwhile, our specific recommendations to SST are as follow:• That meetings be organized with landowner groups to clarify the communityresponsibilities of the company, and the company stakeholders, in a public context;• That odour and pollution controls be reviewed and established immediately, inpartnership with suitably qualified NGOs or independent auditors, as well as theprovincial government;• That landowners groups be encouraged to create and registr worker’s unions with thecompany;• That workers be given the minimum wages projected in the initial company plan (U.S.$.90/hour or K2.70/hour/K216 a fortnight);• That production employees be given the option of wearing plastic gloves;• That production employees be allowed regular 15 minute breaks to reduce the physicalstrain of standing all day;• That company lunches include larger quantitites of food (especially rice);• That the company provide transportation for all workers on each of its 3 shifts; and• That a management training programme be established for Papua New Guineancandidates.In general, we recommend that SST take the initiative in CSR and establish protocols offlexibility and transparency that can ensure its sustainability in Wewak. It is presently headed ina dangerous direction, leading either to more employee work strikes or acts of sabotage on thepart of frustrated landowners, employees and nearby residents. There is no reason why some ofthe conflicts of interest cannot be made congruent in some form of quid-pro-quo betweencommunity and company. Soliciting local expertise for assistance in odour control measures, inoffshore sludge dumping suggestions, and in employee benefits is not as self-destructive as itseems, and may in fact cost less than bumping up the security and hiring risk managementconsultants.Virtually any interaction between the well-resourced and the under-resourced in PNG is going toinspire antagonism. Equity in a village contexts means that both parties demonstrate demonstrateunqualified reciprocity, just as do members of extended family in PNG. They must also exhibitthe kind of absolute evenhandedness that big-men must do when making public distributions.Certainly in a corporate context these are impossible goals to achieve. To start with, the resources172