The Roundtable Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) said that PT. London Sumatera could not, as it has announced, resign from the sustainability organization because the membership is held not by the company itself but by its mother company, PT Salim Ivomas.
“The matter related to and the renewal of the membership, sanctions or fines, will be jointly settled between PT Salim Ivomas Pratama and RSPO. The option where RSPO deals directly with PT London Sumatra does not exist,” RSPO said in a release dated January 23, 2019.
The release came following the announcement that PT London Sumatra was planning to withdraw its membership in RSPO. PT Lonsum said as one of the reasons that it had been unfairly treated by an RSPO panel which later slapped the company with a sanction following reports of plantation workers mistreatment alleged by a number of Non-Governmental Organizations.
“We have made our stance clear, we are now awaiting a response from RSPO,” Benny Tjoeng, President Director of PT Lonsum was quoted as having said by Sawit Indonesia.
Lonsum said that it also wanted to focus on meeting the standards of the Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) which was now mandatory for all palm oil producing companies in Indonesia.
RSPO in its release also sought a clarification from PT Lonsum about the latest condition regarding the status of the company, but the request has yet to receive a response.
The Palm Scribe’s attempt to seek comments from RSPO Indonesian Executive Director Tiur Rumondang regarding further development of the case has not yet been successful.