JOINT
PRESS STATEMENT BY UPL AND THE UPL MULTI-STAKEHOLDER FORUM (MSF)
01 July 2022
UPL South Africa and Interim Multi-Stakeholder commit to working
together
For
the first time since the devastating fire at UPL’s Cornubia Warehouse that was
started during the July 2021 civil unrest, the UPL management team and members
of the interim multi-stakeholder forum (MSF) that was established by MEC Ravi
Pillay met yesterday (30 June 2022) to explore how both parties can work
together moving forward.
JOINT
PRESS STATEMENT BY UPL AND THE UPL MULTI-STAKEHOLDER FORUM (MSF)
01 July 2022
UPL South Africa and Interim Multi-Stakeholder commit to working
together
For
the first time since the devastating fire at UPL’s Cornubia Warehouse that was
started during the July 2021 civil unrest, the UPL management team and members
of the interim multi-stakeholder forum (MSF) that was established by MEC Ravi
Pillay met yesterday (30 June 2022) to explore how both parties can work
together moving forward.
UPL
explained that communication between it and the MSF to date had not been helped
by the fact that the MSF and its terms of reference had not been finalised by
the MEC, and that it was reluctant to formally engage until that had been done.
It expressed its frustration that the enormous sums of money invested in
clean-up and the progress that had been made by its team of experts had not
been adequately acknowledged. It expressed its concerns at biased reporting
that did not reflect the substantial reduction of contaminants in the affected
environments and the return of life throughout the impact zone. It recognised
in principle the role of a stakeholder forum, but queried how the MSF would
function within in the statutory compliance processes, and what its powers and representivity would be.
For
its part the MSF expressed its concern that UPL’s refusal to engage with it
gave the impression that information relevant to the affected communities was
being withheld, was thus counter- productive to everyone’s interests, and
contrary to industry practice for chemical incidents such as this. It stressed
the right of communities to know the risks to which they are exposed, and what steps
are being taken in response - which is only achieved by inclusion in relevant
decision-making. It queried why UPL and the authorities have been reluctant to
involve the MSF in the incident responses to date to the extent that they
should have.
There
was a frank and cordial exchange of views. It was agreed at the culmination of
the meeting that great progress had been made in understanding each side’s
perspectives, and that a path to formal engagement and collaboration should be
pursued to tackle the remaining challenges arising from the incident.
The
group agreed on the following as the way forward:
- The terms of reference of the MSF would be
revised to clarify the role of the MSF and to reflect the consensus
reached at the meeting;
- The stakeholder base would be reviewed to ensure
that all stakeholders are represented, and would include the landowners
whose properties were contaminated in the incident;
- A presentation would be made to the MSF within
the next month by UPL’s specialists, at which the MSF would be appraised
of current progress in the incident response and be able to raise
questions and obtain clarity.
- Further engagements will be discussed thereafter, including the manner in which the authorities, UPL and the stakeholders would interact to further progress toward a formal and acceptable strategy, which can be implemented as a matter of extreme urgency in the best interests of all affected parties.
The parties have committed themselves to
working together as the processes unfold, and expressed the view that this was
a very significant step forward.
ENDS///
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