According to a report by Struggle to Economize Future Environment (SEFE),
published
by Forest People Program (FPP), the decision was announced to the few
remaining workers of Fabe and Lipenja I, Batanga, nurseries on May 29, 2015.
“Workers confirmed that the announcement was made by a man who presented
himself as the new CEO of the company. The workers said the reason given for
suspending operations was to enable Herakles to intensify planting of palms in
the Nguti area before returning to Mundemba and Toko concessions in 2017/2018”,
the report reads.
In 2009 Herakles Farms/ SGSOC received a concession of 73,000 hectares
of rainforest in the Southwest region to be replaced by oil plam plantations
despite locals, national and international NGOs’ outcries against the
environmental threat of the palm plantations.
The US agro-industrial claimed
to invest 300 billion francs CFA and improve the life of indigenuous people
of the project area.
The presidential decree leasing the 73,000 ha concession to the American
firm according to the FPP report demanded the company fulfills certain
conditions which were not met, notably in the development of social facilities,
conducting an environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) in the new
concession, and payment of land rents to the tune of 200,000,000 FCFA.
“Treasury and local council officials have confirmed to SEFE that
Herakles is yet to pay land rents demanded in the Presidential decrees of
November 2013, yet are still operating in the area, in clear violation of the
presidential order” the report reads.
Workers Laid Off
The SEFE report reveals that following the abandonment, workers were
awarded certificates of appreciation and asked to go to the Divisional Office
of Labour in Mundemba and collect money without indicating the amounts.
“Workers were left unclear if these represented wages for the month of
May or compensation for the entire period they have worked in the company”
Prior to the withdrawal from the Mundemba and Toko concessions, the
company laid off its managers and personnel at its Limbe office. SEFE sources say the company
has shut down its Limbe office for good.
It’s not the first time Herakles Farms is laying off its workers. Some of
the workers according to the report said they are disheartened because they
were recently recalled to work and were laid off again a few days later.
The Mundemba and Toko concession is located astride the Iconic Korup
National Park and Rumpi Hills Forest Reserve. The latter being a complex
watershed formation with all the freshwater from it draining into the Korup
Park.
SEFE officials say establishing a huge palm oil plantation in this area
would have brought disastrous pollution resulting from pesticides, fertilizers
and herbicides and sewage disposal; all affecting the health of animals in the
Korup Park that depend on the water.
By Ndi Eugene Ndi
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