Palm Oil Companies ‘Deprived Indigenous People’

The palm oil used in everyday products, like fast food, and cosmetics can be traced back to a single source: the destruction of rainforests by way too many companies. A BBC investigation has uncovered how these multinationals are depriving indigenous communities across Indonesia of potentially millions of dollars in income.

Mat Yadi’s spear is ready to strike, but today there are no fish. “Before this river was full of animals,” he says. “Now there’s hardly anything alive.”

The Orang Rimba are a nomadic tribe who have lived in the jungle on Indonesia’s island of Sumatra for generations. For them, hunting and gathering are not enough to sustain life – they also rely heavily upon rubber tapping as well! In the 1990s, came this huge palm oil company promising wealth through development.

The Orang Rimba people of Borneo have been fighting to get back ancestral land that was taken from them decades ago. Now they’re taking their case all the way up through international courts in order for justice, but not without some help! An Australian company has offered financial compensation and promises about 50% more oil palms planted on top of where previously, there were only trees growing wild among riversides lined with rubber trees.

The oil palms grew tall and the bright-orange fruit flooded into a company’s mill, producing millions of dollars worth of edible oils for its ultimate owner -the Salim Group. This multinational corporation is owned by manufacturers who use these oils in products like Cadbury chocolate; Pop-Tarts & Crunchy Nut Clusters. In 25 years’ time since they were planted, this one plant has contributed to biodiesel fuels that serve our needs as well.

Mat Yadi never received the smallholdings his tribe was promised. Today, Mat’s family lives in a makeshift hut inside of another plantation with nothing returning to them but shame and loss for all that was taken from them.

The elder Siti Maninah scrapes a living from the ground as she picks up fruitlets that fall when oil palms are harvested. If lucky, she will gather enough to buy rice and vegetables for her family’s meal today.” It isn’t much,” says this Orang Rimba woman but at least it keeps them fed. “This is just one example – it’s happening everywhere,” says Daniel Johan, an Indonesian MP from the island of Sulawesi.

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The once lush jungle of Borneo and Sumatra has been largely replaced by a vast stretch of palm oil plantations.

To gain access to government financing, companies often promised that they would share their plantation with the local village. This is known as “plasma”. It became required for them in 2007 and now a fifth must go back if there’s any new planting happening on these lands. In order for economic development projects like mining or logging businesses to come about; locals are usually included at some point during the planning stages.

The global pal oil industry is worth more than $50 billion, but it’s not without its critics. A steady drumbeat of allegations has emerged against companies that they reneged on promises and legal obligations to the indigenous peoples in the area.

It has been found that companies have failed to provide more than 100,000 hectares – around the size of Los Angeles- in Borneo’s Central Kalimantan province alone.

Palm oil is a profitable business for Indonesia, but it’s not fair when communities lose out. We estimated that the province of West Sumatra has deprived its people from $90 million each year because their land was converted into the corporations’ palm oil plantations.

A recent study analyzed data from the Ministry Of Agriculture regarding agriculture-related losses across Indonesia which suggests there could be hundreds (or even thousands)  of millions of dollars missing each year.

The Indonesian government has lifted a global export ban on edible oils, which will allow for the resumption of shipments from Palm Oil production. The move is an attempt by them to control rising domestic prices and secure local supply.

The palm oil billionaires of Indonesia have seen their profits soar this year as global prices reached record highs. The Widjaja family, who control Golden Agri-Resources and stand second place in Forbes’ list of the rich for the country; Anthoni Salim is one below them at third position with his company’s revenues totaling $2 billion dollars per year.

The Orang Rimba people live out their lives under the palm trees, where they wait for a chance to sing songs with the lyrics “our hearts are full if our grandchildren are healthy.”

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