Coca-Cola To Probe Seven-Year-Old Cambodian Land Grab Case
Declaring that it has “zero tolerance” towards land grabbing, Coca-Cola has agreed to investigate a long running case in Cambodia where villagers are seeking court action against a company accused of seizing their land to make way for plantations linked to the supply of sugar to the soft drinks manufacturer. “The Coca-Cola company believes that land grabbing is unacceptable,” the Atlanta, Georgia-based giant said in a landmark statement in which it agreed to review the status of its sugar suppliers to ensure that it does not buy from plantations that illegally evicted local residents. … Some 200 families in Sre Ambel district in the Koh Khong province have been fighting for land from which they were evicted in 2006 to make way for a sugar plantation supplying Tate & Lyle Sugars, which sells sugar to franchises that manufacture and bottle products for Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. The plantation is controlled by companies which are 70-percent owned by Thai sugar giant Khon Kaen Sugar Co Ltd (KSL). In April 2013, the families filed a case against Tate & Lyle Sugars in the UK High Court and through the grievance mechanism of Bonsucro, an industry initiative that aims to reduce the negative impacts of sugar production. … Coca-Cola said it would engage with its all its suppliers and growers to pursue “fair resolution” of any disputes in their supply chains. In the Cambodian case, Coca-Cola has committed to engage with Tate & Lyle Sugars and to “take action and use our influence on the final outcome” of the dispute. … The Cambodian government said it welcomed Coca-Cola’s investigations into the case. “This is the company’s right,” Cambodian cabinet spokesman Phay Siphan said. “When they conduct the investigation, they will find out whether the dispute has been resolved or [whether the] complaint is only raised by those who are opposing the government,” he said. He said that such probes would not affect Cambodia’s international reputation. Cambodia has come under criticism from rights groups for allowing a high number of large-scale land acquisitions in recent years amid charges that some of them were secret, corrupt deals. …
Eurasia Review News Staff
http://www.eurasiareview.com/09112013-coca-cola-probe-seven-year-old-cambodian-land-grab-case/
