Commenter(s) :
Pusaka
Environmental Investigation Agency
Forest Peoples Programme
Greenpeace
Date of Comment :
7 April 2017
Nature of Comment :
Substandard NPP assessment
Comment Summary :
- The HCV assessor hired is provisionally licensed rather than fully licensed. While this may not mean that either the assessor or the company are in violation of the SWO conditions, it is not certain that this is in compliance with the agreed process until the HCV assessment is announced to be completed and has gone through the HCVRN ALS compliance and quality control process (deadline set to October 2017).
- The consultancy Ata Marie has been commissioned to carry out the LUCA for PT Nabire Baru. The analysis was made incorporating the results of the 2011 HCV assessment, which Ata Marie’s preliminary report flags as the reason why the LUCA as it stands on July 31st 2017 should still be considered a draft until the HCV assessment has been redone as per the SWO conditions. Goodhope has yet to communicate with the joint commenters on this and the other assessments flagged up as missing from the original submission.
- Goodhope has yet to make a statement on the verification of the legality of their operations in Nabire district in response to comments.
- Goodhope is yet to provide evidence that local communities have given their consent to the continuation of operations and that appropriate compensation has been received for work carried out so far. For instance through demonstrating progress in the resolution of the open complaint with the Yerisiam Gua community.
Response from Grower :
- Goodhope appointed a joint team to conduct the required assessments at the site of PT Nabire Baru. This team included Mr. Iwan Setiawan (a full licensed HCV assessor) who led HCV assessments in collaboration with a team from Ata Marie and PT Ekologika. A public consultation to communicate the HCV assessment results to local community in Nabire is planned at the end of August.
- In accordance with the requirements for LUCA at the site of PT Nabire Baru, a full analysis has been conducted to determine changes in land-use change since November 2005. Field assessments were carried out between March and July 2017 by a joint team from Ata Marie and PT Ekologika. The final results of HCV re-assessment will be integrated into the LUCA. Once results are verified, an acceptable compensation plan for the loss of HCV can then be developed and accepted by the RSPO.
- A legal review of PT Nabire Baru was conducted by Aidenvironment. We attempt to clarify that PT. Nabire Baru (Goodhope) closely coordinated with the relevant authorities and communities and conformed to the processes advised by the Provincial Government. An official letter of clarification regarding the AMDAL / Environmental License application process was sent between governmental authorities.Aidenvironment advises that the local authorities and the company PT Nabire Baru (Goodhope) prepare a detailed chronology to document the process of AMDAL and environmental license application as the basis for addressing any inquiries.
- Regarding complaints about Social issues on Yeresiam Gua community, Goodhope has come to an agreement with Yayasan Pusaka and The Yeresiam local communities in Nabire that we are going to settle the dispute through the Dispute Settlement Facility (DSF) process facilitated by Conflict Resolution Unit (CRU) of the IBCSD.Goodhope continues to engage various stakeholders in these efforts. Following the stop work order, the Yeresiam Gua community have been faced with the problem that there are now fruits on community Plasma land that are reaching mature stage and are ready for harvesting, but with no mill for processing these fruits are being discarded. To resolve this problem, Goodhope has proposed the development of a mill, and following several meetings and discussions, the Yeresiam Gua community confirms endorsement of a mill (see Attachment 2 for a report on the outcome of community meetings)
NPP Public Notification/Comment Status :
Closed
Comment referred to Complaints :
No
Note :
The Comments were not referred to Complaints as the Secretariat had taken the initiative to lodge a formal complaint related to the sub-par HCV assessment.
