Our licence to operate depends on maintaining good relations with our communities which form a large proportion of our employees’ and suppliers’ base. Many of the locations where we operate are located in isolated areas that lack basic infrastructure and services. Our Policy on Sustainable Palm Oil includes a commitment to drive positive socio-economic impact for the people and communities we touch, through job creation, investments in plasma projects and community development programmes centred on education, healthcare and infrastructure.

Our Community Development Officers (CDOs) are the main liaison between our company and community members. CDOs engage with local residents on a regular basis to build relationships and understand community members’ ambitions, concerns and needs. The CDO’s typical tasks include collecting data on living conditions and population numbers, brainstorming new development ideas with community members, designing and proposing new programmes to regional managers and sustainability coordinators, and implementing local projects. CDOs also act as ambassadors, engaging with local government agencies to present and explain First Resources’ operational activities, environmental initiatives and social programmes.

EDUCATION

First Resources recognises that education is fundamental for community growth and well-being. We are therefore working to increase access to quality formal education for both the current and future generations of school-age children in our communities. We currently support 38 schools located which are located within or near our oil palm estates. These include two preschools, 14 kindergartens, 19 elementary schools and three junior high schools. These institutions employ more than 400 teachers and educate more than 5,900 students. The educational practices adopted are similar to those at schools managed by the local government. The Group contributes to the schools’ facilities and teaching aids, such as furniture, computers, electricity generators and books.

HEALTHCARE

We have a total of 36 health facilities staffed with qualified medical professionals, including doctors and nurses. The primary purpose of the clinics is to service our employees and their families, but they are also open to local community members. The operating hours of our clinics are longer than those of the health posts managed by local government. Medical services such as immunisations for polio, measles and tuberculosis are available to communities upon request. 

INFRASTRUCTURE

Infrastructure development can help to foster economic opportunities, hence improving living standards. We consult local village leaders on which infrastructure projects to support. Besides enabling us to run our operational activities more efficiently, better infrastructure enable local communities, including farmers, cooperatives, associations, businesses and local government, to have better access to healthcare facilities, educational facilities and markets. We also contributed to the building of places of worship and clean water facilities.

PROMOTING LOCAL ENTERPRISES

Local communities all want increased prosperity. Many aspire to become business owners or successful independent smallholders. The Group helps fulfil these ambitions through the development of the plasma programme. In areas where the communities cannot grow oil palms, the Group helps them in setting up other businesses such as maize cultivation, cattle farming, and weaving. We also promote local enterprises by using local transporters to move our products and engaging local contractors for land preparation, planting and other services that support our operations.