The case of the village of Long Teran Kanan vs. IOI Plantations has been dragged out in RSPO’s (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) for well over 4-years.
Long Teran Kanan is a small village on the banks of the Baram river in Sarawak, Malaysia. After years and generations there, the kampung of Long Teran Kanan (LTK) found that a portion of their communal land was now given out to the government of Sarawak to palm oil developers. LTK villagers took the company and the government to court to reclaim their lands that were taken from them without their free, prior or informed consent and with no compensation.
IOI Plantations, a founder of RSPO acquired these lands and thus brought this case directly into the RSPO realm. As the complainants representing the interests of our friends back in LTK and for other interested stakeholders, we filed a complaint in 2010. Since then we’ve become frustrated at the process and how RSPO has basically reneged on their own commitments to its own process and failed to deliver justice.
Now that this case appears to be “ON” again (we’ve had a few false dawns), Grassroots has compiled and posted the chronology of this case, from the perspective of our friends who have been co-complainants, supporters, villagers directly involved and others who believe the case needs resolution.
We hope this case helps to bring a just, amicable and mutually beneficial solution is found in the shortest timeframe possible.