§ Gregory BarkerTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether external consultants have advised CDC/Actis Capital on the Higaturu Oil Palms investment since 1999; and whether the deal team identified specific areas of concern regarding impact on(a) the environment, (b) indigenous cultures and (c) employed smallholders.[188968]
§ Hilary BennSeveral external consultants have advised CDC on Higaturu Oil Palms since 1999. All have made recommendations for further improvement of Higaturu's environmental management, which have been incorporated into Higaturu's environmental management plan. None of them identified areas of concern that had not already been recognised or were not part of ongoing management.
§ Gregory BarkerTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will list CDC/Actis Capital's expenditure on(a) corporate executive and (b) department staff development and team building exercises in each year since 2002. [189059]
§ Hilary BennCDC's expenditure on(a) Corporate Executive and (b) department staff development and team building exercises from 2002 until the end of June was as follows:
£ million Corporate executive Staff development and team building 2002 0.2 0.2 2003 0.2 0.1 2004 (end June) 0.1 0.1 These figures do not include expenditure incurred by Actis since its demerger from CDC earlier this year. As Actis is an independently managed business, in which HMG is only a minority shareholder, it is inappropriate for me to comment on the internal affairs of the business.
§ Gregory BarkerTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will list CDC/Actis Capital public relations consultant expenditure since 1997, broken down by project. [189066]
§ Hilary BennCDC retained a UK public relations agency in 1997 and 1998, but stopped its services in mid 1999. Fees paid were minimal.
1776WAnother UK public relations agency was employed in late 2002 and its services were used until April 2004. The costs of the services of this agency were £30,667 in 2002 and £113,512 in 2003. A breakdown by project is not possible as neither agency was retained on a project-specific basis. CDC has not retained any PR consultants since then.
These figures do not include any expenditure incurred by Actis on public relations since its demerger from CDC earlier this year. As Actis is an independently managed business, in which HMG is only a minority shareholder, it is inappropriate for me to comment on the internal affairs of the business.
§ Gregory BarkerTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development (1) what representations he has received on the conditions of smallholders employed by Pacific Rim Palm Oil; [188853]
(2) what representations he has received regarding the Higaturu Oil Palms plantation's effect on (a) public health, (h) water quality, (c) indigenous sacred sites, (d) tribal property rights, (e) labour rights, (f) rainforest sustainability and deforestation and (g) species habitat; and if he will make a statement. [188852]
§ Hilary BennI received a letter from Friends of the Earth in June 2004, which enclosed letters from organisations in Papua New Guinea. In my reply to Friends of the Earth, I assured them that DFID takes these matters very seriously but that they should be taken up in the first instance with the company concerned. I understand that Actis, which manages the CDC investment in Pacific Rim Palm Oil Pte Ltd., the owners of Higaturu Oil Palms, held a meeting in late June 2004 with Friends of the Earth about these issues and has also replied to them by letter. In that reply, they invited Friends of the Earth to visit the plantation.