VN Rubber Company Says It Improves Forest
The Vietnamese Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) company, the majority shareholder of several economic land concessions in Ratanakkiri province, on Friday rebuffed accusations that it had logged forests and forced evictions, claiming that its activities improved the environment and the livelihoods of locals. Through several companies, HAGL said it holds almost 40,000 hectares of land concessions in Ratanakkiri province, about four times more than a single company is allowed to hold under Cambodian law. In May, environmental watchdog group Global Witness released a hard-hitting report saying that HAGL oversaw the destruction of high-value evergreen and semi-evergreen forest in Cambodia, seized people’s land and destroyed their livelihoods, in particular the indigenous population of Ratanakkiri whose cultural identity depends on spirit forests. During a visit to Cambodia on Friday, Nguyen Tan Anh, assistant to the chairman of HAGL, said that the accusations against the company were wrong, claiming HAGL was helping local communities as well as the forest. … “When we invest in Cambodia the target is not just profit but to improve the life of the people in our concessions. That comes from our heart and we care a lot about this,” Mr. Tan Anh said, adding that his company planned to stay here for “a long time.” “People here are very poor and uneducated and they have no health care or food, but we come and cut the bad trees and make better forests and make a better life for the people,” Mr. Tan Anh added. … HAGL holds 91.17 percent of the shares in each of the three subsidiary Hoang Anh companies, of which one has another two subsidiaries: Heng Brother Co. Ltd. and C.R.D. Co. Ltd., which hold land concessions of 2,360 and 7,591 hectares, respectively. Mr. Tan Anh maintained that his conglomerate had no affiliation with Hoang Anh Lumphat, a company holding a concession inside the Lumphat Wildlife Sanctuary where systematic logging was reported this week. Asked to explain why Hoang Anh Lumphat’s registered business address is at the same location as the HAGL head office in Vietnam’s Gia Lai’s province, Mr. Tan Anh said that he did not know. …
Denise Hruby
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/vn-rubber-company-says-it-improves-forest-47771/
