Singapore, 21 June 2013 - CTP Holdings, a Cargill-Temasek Joint Venture, confirms “no burn” policy and no fires on its South Sumatran oil palm plantations

CTP Holdings, a palm oil plantation company with operations in Indonesia, has reiterated its strict no-burn policy, and has confirmed that there are no hot spots or fires on its plantations.

CTP Holdings has plantations in the Indonesian province of Sumatera Selatan (South Sumatra), which is approximately 500km south of Singapore.  The fire hotspots that are sending the smoke haze to Singapore and Peninsula Malaysia are in the Riau Province in central Sumatra, and less than 300 km west of Singapore.

“No Burn” Policy at CTP
CTP has a no-burn policy and practices only mechanical clearing of land. The entire process is overseen by CTP employees. This fully complies with standards set forth by the internationally-recognised Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), the European-standard International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC), and Indonesia Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO).

CTP has firefighting teams on alert and ready to manage emergencies. Emergency equipment & water tanks are on standby, ready for use at all times. They have fire patrol and security teams to monitor potential hotspots near boundaries and prevent fire encroachment onto their property.

More information is available on Cargill Singapore’s website at http://www.cargill.com/worldwide/singapore/index.jsp.

Temasek welcomes Cargill’s statement that there are no hot spots or fires on its plantations, and that it has a no-burn policy.

CTP plantations in Sumatra are far south of the Riau hotspots

According to maps and satellite pictures from NASA and others including the Singapore National Environment Agency (NEA), the smoke haze is predominantly caused by fires burning in the Riau region, in central Sumatra, west of Singapore and Peninsula Malaysia. 

CTP’s plantations are in southern Sumatra, near Palembang, separated from the Riau Province by the Jambi Province.  The CTP plantations are approximately 500 kilometres south-east of the Riau hotspots. 

The map below, taken today from the NEA, shows the location of the fire hotspots and the plume of the smoke haze, as well as the prevailing wind directions. 

The approximate location of the CTP plantations is marked with a star (not to scale), showing CTP plantations well outside of the Riau hotspot zone and the smoke haze plume affecting Singapore. 

To see the latest haze map, go to the NEA’s website here.

Further Observations from Temasek

CTP is a 70:30 joint venture between the world leading commodities company, Cargill, and Temasek.

As a matter of good governance, Temasek expects the boards and management of its investee companies to oversee their operations according to sound commercial principles, including compliance with laws, regulations and recognised industry practices.

A Temasek team travelled to South Sumatra this week to verify that there are no hot spots or fires on CTP’s plantations.

The pictures below were taken at PT Hindoli, CTP’s palm oil plantation in South Sumatra, by a Temasek staff member on Thursday 20 June 2013.