03/05/2008 (The Star Online) - OIL palm plantation giant IOI group has diligently undertaken corporate responsibility (CR) activities in an admirable manner for over a decade.

Its CR principle, which is encoded in Vision IOI formulated in 1995, emphasises on achieving commercial success in a balanced, responsible way by addressing the interests of stakeholders.

“This simple guiding principle ensures that CR, as we see it, is part and parcel of how we do business,” said group executive director Datuk Lee Yeow Chor.

Its key CR initiatives include good business practices and sustainable cultivation, education, environment and wildlife conservation, community and employee welfare.

Lee told StarBiz IOI believes that concern for the environment is an integral part of sustainable oil palm cultivation and this has governed the group's practice for many years.

“We have practised zero burning and biomass preservation in clearing land for new planting or replanting over the past 15 years,” he said.

Every year, large volume of biomass such as empty fruit bunches, mesocarp fibre and kernel shells is produced at its palm oil mills as by-products.

Three years ago, IOI installed a biomass steam plant to produce steam to power its refinery in Sandakan utilising empty fruit bunch (EFB) fibre and kernel shell, Lee said.

The group is commissioning a 15MW biomass power plant this year using EFB and shell in the same refinery.

IOI also uses the organic-rich effluent produced at its crude palm oil (CPO) mills as a supplementary fertiliser for the group's estates.

The group has invested in new processing technology for its CPO mills, which will reduce the effluent pollutants level.

According to Lee, the group's efforts towards practising sustainable agriculture and sustainable palm oil production have intensified in the last five years through its participation in the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).
 
IOI is one of RSPO's founding members and subsequently, became a member of its executive board.

Lee said: “We have undergone a number of sustainability audits by several regional and international bodies and intend to obtain the RSPO certification for some of our estates during the next few months.”

Other measures to minimise the impact on environment include integrated pest management, soil management, terracing and restoration of the riparian reserves to reduce soil erosion while barn owl nest boxes are set up for pest control. Buffaloes are also used instead of mini tractors for crop evacuation to reduce the usage of diesel and the subsequent emission of greenhouse gasses.

Lee said the measures resulted in the efficient use of land, which translates into lower fertiliser, pesticide and energy usage, which in turn delivers significant benefits to the environment.

The IOI group's annual palm oil yield is also significantly above the national average despite a dramatic reduction in the land to produce the same amount of palm oil.

Based on the group's planted 150,000ha, Lee said: “This will result in the saving of an astonishing 70,000ha of valuable land.”

As a testimony to IOI's good CR initiatives, one of the latest prestigious awards secured by the group include the Malaysian Palm Oil Board's Best Estate CR Award won by its Ulu Estate in Pamol, Sabah last month.

For its employees, Lee said the group strives to ensure its estate workers live in safe and comfortable surroundings.

A complete range of amenities provided ranges from proper housing, schools, nurseries, places of worship, community halls, sundry shops, sports and recreational facilities, police stations and flood relief centres.

To enhance employee health and safety, it provides free medical treatment at clinics with X-ray and ambulance facilities.

In environment and wildlife conservation, IOI also plays an active part in caring for the endangered wildlife species.

Initiatives include a deer farm at Nangoh Estate, Proboscis monkey (Nasalis carvatus) sanctuary at Bayok Estate and cultivation of soft to semi-hard wood jungle trees in flood-prone areas to save the orang utan and other wildlife.

Lee said the CR initiatives undertaken by IOI group and sister organisation Yayasan Tan Sri Datuk Lee Shin Cheng were constantly evolving according to prevailing time and circumstances.

He said: “We realise that our efforts alone are not sufficient and we welcome opportunities to work with other like-minded organisations to advance the agenda of human capital development and environmental preservation further.”