21 September 2020

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We do not consider those complaints to be justified.

The planning process for a potential cement plant in Pati has been conducted with great care over several years with extensive local stakeholder participation. Between 2010 and 2014, our subsidiary Indocement carried out a comprehensive environmental impact assessment. This assessment was based on a detailed mapping of the karst mountains, and was realized with the involvement of several experts from renowned universities in central Java. Both the ecological and social effects of the cement plant project were analyzed in detail. The plans were then adjusted to limit the planned extraction of raw materials for the cement works to regions without ecological relevance for the karst system. Indocement also set up a liaison office in Semarang and organised several information and discussion events with the local population. A second liaison office was set up in Pati to further promote communication with the local stakeholders.

Due to the careful planning, coordinated on site with stakeholders and NGOs, the approval for the project was granted in a procedure that gave all involved parties extensive opportunities to participate and object. The legality of this approval was finally confirmed in March 2017 by the Indonesian Supreme Court after careful examination of the objections. We have no reason to believe that this decision by the Indonesian authorities was not taken in accordance with the rule of law.

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