Asian Agri Committed to Preventing Forest and Land Fires in the Midst of the Pandemic

TEBO, INDONESIA – Media
OutReach – 22 June 2021 – In the midst of the Covid-19
pandemic, Asian Agri remains committed to preventing forest and land fires in
the villages around company’s operational areas.

“In spite of the pandemic, Asian Agri business unit PT Rigunas Agri Utama
(PT RAU), remains committed to implementing the Fire Free Village Program (FFVP)
in participating villages to prevent fires. Today (9/6), there are five
villages signing the FFVP MoU: Teriti Village, Tuo Sumay Village, Muara Sekalo
Village, Suo-Suo Village, and Semambu Village. Through the FFVP, the company works
closely with village officials, government agencies, TNI and Polri to assist
and support fire prevention activities and provide firefighting assistance where
required by the villages,” said Bibit Sembiring, Estate Manager of PT RAU,
Kebun Bungo Tebo. He was accompanied by Hafiz Hazalin Sinaga, Manager of the
Asian Fire Free Village Program. Hafiz added that Asian Agri started the Fire
Free Village Program in Jambi in 2017 to great success.

“Asian Agri is a plantation company that is part of the Royal Golden
Eagle (RGE) group, which manages a group of resource-based manufacturing
companies with global operations. We always strive to benefit the community and
the environment where we operate. One of our many efforts is the Fire Free
Village Program, which raises awareness in the village communities on the
dangers of forest and land fires, equipping them with the knowledge and
resources to prevent forest and land fires in their villages,” said Hafiz.  RGE was founded by Sukanto Tanoto, and will
celebrate its 55^th anniversary in 2022.

“The Fire Free Village Program started in Jambi in 2017, has proven
effective in preventing forest and land fires. Prior to the program, the
average fire size in the village was 20 hectares. However, since joining the
Fire Free Village Program, there are two completely fire-free villages, namely
Muara Sekalo Village and Teriti Village. Meanwhile, in Tuo Sumay Village,
Semambu Village and Suosuo Village, fires have decreased considerably, at around
2 hectares per year. This achievement earned the five villages awards from the
Tebo Police Chief in 2020,” Hafiz added at the MoU signing event for the
DBA Program at the PT RAU office, Sumay District, Tebo Regency.

The Head of Suosuo Village, Urista, expressed appreciation for the
success of PT RAU’s Fire Free Village Program, and hoped the FFVP would
continue and that his fire-prone village will remain fire-free.

“We thank the Manager of PT RAU for guiding us in preventing forest and
land fires. Thanks to the Fire Free Village Program, the number of fires in our
village have greatly reduced. We hope this program can continue to be in place
and grow, especially in terms of monitoring and establishing monitoring posts
in fire-prone locations, considering the size of the forest and potential fire-risk
locations in our village,” said Urista.

The MoU signing ceremony was attended by the Estate Manager of PT RAU,
Bibit Sembiring; Asian Agri Fire Free Village Manager, Hafiz Hazalin Sinaga;
PMKS PT RAU Manager, H Purba; Public Relations of PT RAU, Bastari; Head of Tuo
Sumay Village, Hazri; Teriti Village Head, Raden Sofli; Chief Des Suosuo,
Urista; Head of Muaro Sekalo Village, Suherman; Head of Semambu Village, Akmal;
Fire Care Society, Bukhari, Raden Kamal, Saipul, Edi, Ade Chandra, and TNI, Kopda
Julhendri.