By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Oct 20: Two environmental organisations, The Borneo Project and SAVE Rivers, have raised concern over ongoing forest clearing activities in an oil palm concession in Belaga, claiming that crude palm oil (CPO) from the area continues to enter the market through a company based in Peninsular Malaysia despite its sustainability commitments.
According to The Borneo Project, ground investigations carried out between December 2024 and September 2025, supported by satellite analysis, drone imagery and testimonies from local communities, documented active forest clearing within a plantation area in Belaga.
The group alleged that the harvested fruit was sent to a nearby mill, which supplies crude palm oil to the Peninsular Malaysia-based company. The connection, it said, was also reflected in the company’s own public traceability declaration.
Borneo Project executive director Jettie Word claimed that the company continued to source palm oil from the Belaga mill even after learning about the forest clearing in late 2024.
“For nearly a year, the company has knowingly sourced CPO linked to a plantation actively engaged in deforestation.
“Local communities protested the deforestation through petitions and blockades, and there were multiple public statements condemning the forest clearing activities.
“In spite of all this, the plantation accelerated their forest-clearing activities in 2025, and the company continued to buy from the mill, the only mill in the area that would accept the tainted fruit,” she said.
She also described the situation as a case of “greenwashing”, saying it contradicted the company’s sustainability pledges.
The statement further alleged that the forest clearing violated both the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) and Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) standards.
It also noted that another mill in Sarawak had stopped accepting fruit from the same plantation in January 2025 due to continued clearing and lack of corrective action.
The Borneo Project and SAVE Rivers have urged the responsible company to suspend sourcing from the Belaga mill until the plantation restores the affected forest areas and compensates local communities.
They also called for the public release of the company’s engagement report with its supplier in the interest of transparency. — DayakDaily
