18/08/2010 (Procurement Leaders News) - The Indonesia-based palm oil production company that has recently come under fire from Greenpeace for allegedly engaging in destruction of protected rainforests on Borneo has claimed that it has been cleared of wrongdoing.

AFP reported that a study commissioned by SMART, a division of the Singapore-listed Sinar Mas agri-business conglomerate, stated that the company was not responsible, as alleged by Greenpeace, of destroying tracts of the virgin forests in Borneo.

"The report concluded that the allegations were largely unfounded and that SMART was not responsible for deforestation of primary forests and the destruction of orangutan habitats," SMART president Daud Dharsono told AFP.

SMART is the Indonesia-based palm oil production division of Golden Agri Resources (GAR) and part of the Sinar Mas agri.

Environmental group Greenpeace has long accused SMART of serious deforestation.
SMART'S Dharsono told AFP: "All the land in the 11 concessions examined comprised of secondary forests, degraded and shrub land and were no longer primary forests before SMART started land clearing and planting."

But Greenpeace claimed that SMART's report actually proved its allegations were valid and that the company was guilty of deforestation.

"They misinterpreted the audit result," he told AFP. "It confirms that the company has been operating without the necessary permits and has been clearing deep peat illegally."