SD Guthrie disputes claims linking subsidiaries to Indonesian fires
The plantation group says inspections found no active fires at its Indonesian estates and that some companies identified as affiliates have no ownership or management links to it.
Allegations connecting SD Guthrie Bhd’s subsidiaries or employees with forest and land fires in Indonesia lack credible evidence, the plantation group said. It denied that they had started the fires, citing its assessments on the ground.
According to Guthrie, its most recent estate inspections in Indonesia detected no active fires. It also challenged public reports identifying certain companies as affiliates, saying those businesses were outside its ownership, management and control.
Guthrie said firefighting teams at its Indonesian subsidiary, Minamas Plantation, extinguished 2,411 fires between January and September 2026. Community land accounted for 2,376 of those fires. Responding outside its concessions did not show that the group had caused the fires, it said.
Minamas has 67 teams with 1,005 trained personnel, supported by drones and infrared monitoring, according to Guthrie. Their coverage includes plantation concessions and about 322,000 hectares of neighbouring community land. The group estimated monthly spending on maintaining and deploying these resources at Rp3.5 billion (RM800,000).
Prevention efforts include monitoring water levels and peatland water tables, maintaining moisture levels, community programmes and responsible land-management training for smallholders and local farmers, Guthrie said. Its operations respond immediately when fires are detected inside or close to operational boundaries, whatever their origin.
The group said cooperation with Indonesian authorities and stakeholders would continue. It also sought corrections to inaccurate information and ownership links, and called for credible evidence to support allegations.
