Tradewinds Plantation Berhad

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

OUR CARING LEGACY

It has long been Tradewinds Plantation Berhad’s corporate philosophy to fulfill the noble tradition of corporate responsibility by aligning its comercial operations with socially rewarding activities. We believe in giving back and in helping out wherever we can. This spirit of sharing has helped to enrich the lives of our employees and their fami lies, the local comunity and the society at large.

EMPLOYEE WELFARE

Tradewinds Plantation Berhad is a progressive and caring organisation that is fully committed to finding ways to improve the quality of life of its employees. We believe in the philosophy that a happy and contented work force will contribute their best towards the progress and performance of the organisation. Providing and improving facilities like housing, water supply and basic infrastructure are among the initiatives designed to reinforce employee’s satisfaction, enhance staff retention and fostering productive work environment.

During the period under review, the Group intensified the programme to provide comfortable accommodation equipped with basic amenities for our employees within our estates. Substantial funds had been allocated for the construction of staff quarters with improved designs that contributes towards comfortable and conducive living environment. Staff quarters of various categories were built at the Kuala Suai Estate in Miri, the Gemilang and Melur Estates at Gedong and Jaya Estate at Kota Tinggi.

Besides housing, top priority has been given in ensuring adequate and clean water supply to our people through various sources including underground waters, surface reservoirs, wells and private and public water supply. The water supply at the Retus Estate Complex in Sibu was upgraded under this initiative. The Group also provides support facilities like clinics, kindergarten, crèches, club house, playground and sports facilities in an effort to provide our employees and the surrounding community a better and more conducive living environment.

The Group promotes sports and recreation activities, games, family day, dinners and outings among employees. Such activities allow for greater staff interaction, foster closer ties and instill a sense of belonging among employees. Of no less significance is the balance it provides between work routine and daily living. During the period under review, annual games were held in Southern Peninsular and Miri Region respectively. These events provide an ideal setting for staff interaction, fostering camaraderie and contributing to better working environment.

Our caring heart for staff welfare came to the fore when we lost one of our staff following the demise of Mr. Vincent Lai Sey Min, Manager of Occupational Safety and Health Unit. The East Malaysia Operations Centre represented the Group in paying respects and conveying condolences as well as offering donations to his family as a mark of our appreciation for his services.

REACHING OUT

The communities in and around our places of operations form part of our closely interwoven and inseparable social fabric. Fulfilling our corporate responsibility for the well-being and comfort of the local communities has remained part of our corporate culture. One of the hallmarks of our corporate responsibility strategy is to build mosques in all our estates to meet the spiritual needs of our Muslim workers.

During the period under review, a new mosque was built at Ladang Trusan in Lawas for its Muslim residents to conduct their religious activities. Besides serving as places of worship, mosques are also natural venues for celebrating such major religious events as Aidil Adha, Maulidur Rasul, Ar-Syurya and the Ramadhan. Among the good examples of such practice are the utilisation of the Pasira Mosque in Miri and Batu Putih Complex at Tinabau Estate and other mosques in the Group for ushering in these auspicious days. In the true spirit of giving back to society, we have in the past years made annual commitment to maintain social contributions to the less fortunate through Pertubuhan Anak-Anak Yatim Negeri Sarawak (PERYATIM).

During the year under review, our East Malaysia Operation Centre has made festive contributions, both in cash and in kind, to PERYATIM for its orphanages in Miri and Kuching. Reflecting our true commitment to bringing progress to the communities, the Group through its Binu Estate in Miri, had participated in the Rural Electrification Project in Zone One A in Sarawak scheduled over 2009- 2010. The rural electrification projects are initiated by the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development to provide electricity supply as a means to uplift the quality of life of rural communities. Three longhouses located in the vicinity of Binu Estate namely Rumah James Biri, Rumah Suyung and Rumah Landie will benefit from this project.

DEVELOPING HUMAN CAPITAL

The Group has always regarded employees as the backbone of our business and the mainstay of our operations. We recognise that building employee capabilities is one pertinent initiative that would optimise their productivity and contribution to the Group. A broad range of training and development programmes designed to meet those objectives were conducted to equip employees with on-the-job knowledge and skills. These include areas of soft skills, technical skills, Quality Management System, Food Safety Management System, Halal Practices and Occupational, Health and Safety Management System.

Meanwhile, respective regions have taken initiatives to conduct supplementary training to enhance their staff competencies. The Tanjung Payung Estate and Binu Palm Oil Mill in Miri put their field staff through training in the areas of harvesting and supervision (mandore), fire and first aid, grading exercise (through collaboration with personnel of the Malaysian Palm Oil Board), security awareness on transportation of fresh fruit bunch to mills and programmes to enhance oil extraction and kernel extraction rates.

Another excellent initiative was taken by the Kedah Project in organising field demonstrations on proper mixing of chemical, safe use of herbicide, spraying chemical calibration, proper use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and the technique of culling of abnormal oil palm seedlings.

It had also jointly conducted operations to relocate wild elephants that have encroached the estates with the Wildlife Department. During the operations, staffs were coached on the proper handling of firearms. Similar training was also conducted at the Siong Estate in Sibu, Sarawak. Field Day is one event that has great impact on staff learning. During the period under review, Retus and Rantau Estate and the Suai Complex in Miri Region conducted Field Days for the region.

The programme provides opportunity for the participants to be exposed to new ideas followed by discussion, sharing and disseminating of knowledge on best practices. This is in line with the Group’s strategy for employee development and participation to enhance efficiency, productivity and corporate performance. To heighten security awareness among its staff, Miri and Sibu Regions have sought the co-operation of the District Police Department in conducting security briefing and dialogue sessions to the staff. Solar Green Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of the Group also took part in the Employment Placement Programme 2009 organised by the Sarawak Labour Department.

NURTURING FUTURE TALENTS

The Group continued its long tradition of providing educational enrichment programmes to children and youths from among the surrounding communities in the areas of our operations by setting up kindergartens and other facilities. We have also expanded the scope of our programmes to cover the children of our employees. An education allowance scheme has been set up to provide financial assistance for children of our junior staff to support their tertiary education funding needs. The Group also continued to provide financial assistance to enhance education facilities for orphanages in Kedah through its donations to Yayasan Albukhary. Our palm oil mills continue with their traditional role as industrial training grounds for college and university students, and as sites for industrial visits for government departments, the NGOs and the general public to learn more about our core operations. Indeed the mills have gone beyond these parameters by providing employment and business opportunities to the people in the vicinity, holding dialogues with community leaders, provide support during natural disasters such as flood and sponsoring tuition to needy students within the locality.

CONCLUSION

Indeed, at Tradewinds, we remain firm in our commitment to society, recognising that the investments we make will generate tangible and intangible, direct as well as indirect returns that will feature prominently in our quest for onward growth and expansion. The activities reported are reflections of our genuine interest in bringing care and comfort to the lives of those with whom we have the opportunity to interact.