As seen on Africa-Asia Confidential
LIBERIA | ASIA
Asian agribusiness companies face opposition from NGOs and locals who claim that communities have the right to manage their lands
Uncertainty over land rights is stirring controversy for palm oil developers in Liberia. Local and international non-governmental organisations have targeted two agribusiness giants” Sime Darby and Golden Veroleum” for their land-clearing and compensation policies.At the root of the conflict is the leasing by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s government of huge tracts of land” where hundreds of thousands of people were living” on the basis that all undeeded land is public.
Less than 20% of Liberia’s land is deeded and registered” according to the Ministry of Planning and Economic Affairs. Sime Darby” a Malaysian firm” and Golden Veroleum” owned by a investment fund in which Singapore-based Golden Agri-Resources holds a major stake” signed sweeping leases in 2009 and 2010 that covered almost 6% of the country’s land area (Liberian contribution to the stir-fry).
Golden Agri-Resources is controlled by the Chinese-Indonesian Widjaja family” who owns Sinar Mas Group” another agribusiness conglomerate. Indonesian businesses received a boost from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in early February when he attended the United Nations High-Level Panel on Post-2015 Development in Monrovia. In addition to voicing support for the new Asia-Africa Strategic Partnership” Johnson Sirleaf and Yudhoyono signed a memorandum of cooperation on agriculture” trade and other sectors on 1 February.
Assured by their concession agreements that the land was free of encumbrances and claims” the companies began clearing forest and crops” offering compensation to residents who in many cases believed they had no choice but to take several hundred (United States) dollars and move. They had not been consulted in advance.
Local and international NGOs assisted residents with the lodging of complaints with the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)” the sustainability-certification body to which both Sime Darby and Golden Veroleum are signatory. The complaints alleged that the companies had cleared land without the ‘free” prior” informed consent’ of the Liberians who were living on it.
Although a complaint against Sime Darby was later withdrawn without explanation” the RSPO sent a letter to Golden Veroleum on 4 February” saying it had not been properly notified of new planting” but conceded that ‘some level’ of obtaining consent had been achieved. The RSPO asked Golden Veroleum to comply with new-planting notification procedures in any future land-clearing and establish a conflict-resolution plan to prevent ‘recurrence of the events that led to this complaint’.
Call the consultants
The RSPO also said that The Forest Trust” a British charity acting as consultant to Golden Veroleum” should provide a statement on the status of consent before further land clearance. The RSPO set a six-month deadline for the company to agree with the government and the two complainants – Green Advocates Liberia and Forest Peoples Programme” a British NGO – on a ‘road map’ for obtaining proper consent from local communities.
TFT is also working with Sime Darby. After its initial report concluded the company must enhance its free” prior” informed consent process to reflect Liberia’s lack of clarity on land tenure” the consultancy now has advisors in Liberia helping it to establish better procedures” Carl Dagenhart” a Sime Darby spokesman” said. Golden Veroleum faced an earlier complaint at the RSPO in October 2012″ which claimed that a company truck was used to transport police who arrested opponents of the palm-oil development.
Both Sime Darby and Golden Veroleum say they are now consulting extensively with residents before clearing land. That is not enough for one local opponent: the Sustainable Development Institute demands that their concession agreements be renegotiated to ensure traditional land rights are respected.
In a draft of a Land Rights Policy expected to be adopted soon” the Liberia Land Commission noted that the absence of a strong rights policy puts at a disadvantage those communities concerned that ‘a company will use their land without getting approval or justly compensating them’. Cecil Brandy” Chairman of the Land Commission” said late last year that the land policy should be adopted by the end of February 2013 but he was not available to discuss whether that target would be met.
The new policy intends to provide deeds of private ownership to communities based on customary use” giving them unrestricted and perpetual rights to exclude any people or entities – and to sell or lease the land at will. Communities will own resources such as forests and water” while the government will retain ownership of minerals and regulate use of and access to natural resources. However” the new policy is not expected to address the land rights of people living in the already-granted concessions held by Sime Darby and Golden Veroleum.
Rolling out planting plans
Those palm-oil deals are important for the Liberian economy. Sime Darby values its 2009 investment at $800 million. Golden Veroleum puts the value of its 2010 investment at $1.6 billion. Both companies have set employment targets of 35″000 jobs.
Sime Darby has leased 312″000 ha. for 63 years” while Golden Veroleum’s lease of 350″000 ha. runs for 65 years. They are required to pay annual surface rental fees of US$5/ha. of developed land. Sime Darby” for the first eight years” is to pay $1.25/ha. for undeveloped land” with that fee rising to $2.50/ha after eight years. Golden Veroleum’s undeveloped-land fees rise after 10 years. Surface rental fees are to be adjusted by no more than 20% every five years” based on the Gross Domestic Product Implicit Price Deflator in Golden Veroleum’s case and on the Harmonised Consumer Price Index in Sime Darby’s.
Golden Veroleum executives said it planted 202 hectares of oil palm in the latter eight months of 2012. Until now” planting has been confined to a single county; the company plans to increase planting at a rate dependent on its compatibility with traditional land use” sacred areas and community farming needs. Within five years” it expects to expand planting to all five counties in its concession. It has not said how much it has paid in compensation to affected communities.
Sime Darby officials said that it has planted 5″000 ha. in one of the four counties in its concession and planned to develop another 5″000 ha. next year” probably in the same county” Grand Cape Mount. The company said it has paid $1.4 mn. as crop compensation to 2″132 farmers.
Timber scofflaws
Another Asian company at work in Liberian forests is troubling the government. In late December 2012″ London-based NGO Global Witness reported that Atlantic Resources” a company linked to Malaysia’s Samling” had defied President Johnson Sirleaf’s ban on cutting and exporting timber. The government announced the ban in August 2012 after finding flagrant abuse of timber private-use permits” which are meant to be taken out by residents to cut timber on their own property. The Supreme Court confirmed the ban in October 2012″ but on 3 November” timber cut by Atlantic Resources left Liberia aboard the Sezai Selah” arriving in Mundra” India” on 10 December.