Written question asked by Lord Barker of Battle (Conservative) on Thursday, 9 September 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 4 October 2004. It was answered by Hilary Benn (Labour) on Monday, 4 October 2004 on behalf of the Department for International Development.

Dept for International Development

Question: To 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.

Answer: Gregory Barker: To 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 Benn: Several 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.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 424 c1777W;424 c1775W; 188968
Session: 2003-04
Subjects: Consultants Environmental impact assessment Ethnic groups Overseas investment Smallholdings Papua New Guinea CDC Capital Partners CDC Palm oil
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk