Asia Cement cares the development of communities and expects to become the partner of local communities to grow together with joint effort in order to create win-win situation. In the beginning of building the plants, Asia Cement and its subsidiaries always perform community impact evaluation, realize community engagement, and promote community development programs in order to fulfill the mission of social care by becoming “the preferred partner of developing sustainable green homeland”.
Asia Cement places great value on the rights and lives of indigenous peoples. Asia Cement is striving to maintain a high level of safety in its mines, preventing any potential or actual adverse effects on nearby communities. Having engaged with local communities and completed tribal consultation procedures, Asia Cement implements a benefit-sharing mechanism as a good neighbor, so as to thrive together with the tribes.Asia Cement has set up a local community engagement and feedback system at its manufacturing plant. This involves using Asia Cement Service Center, GA and management departments to receive and address residents' feedback through relevant measures.
《Index, Targets》
- Fulfill “10+11” benefit sharing mechanisms in local tribe.
- Expenses for social aspect at least over NT$45,000,000 each year.
Asia Cement values the rights and daily life of indigenous people. The Company planned a series of policies and programs which were friendly to indigenous friends, it actively implemented them and expected that Hualien Plant was the best dependence of community residents in their daily life. The measures included establishing Asia Cement Service Center which was the first in the industry, receiving the applications and petitions from local residents and trying to resolve their troubles, focusing on the actual needs of the residents and prepared 21 benefit sharing mechanisms based on the concept of promoting sustainable social care. These were already implemented step by step including: hiring local residents, promoting tribal care, providing after-school tutoring class for indigenous students, assisting institutes, schools and churches to build green environment or establishing butterfly park ecological class, repairing houses for the tribe, assisting the tribe to conduct various activities…etc.
Complying with the Principles of FPIC to Complete Counseling and Agreement, Co-existing / Co-prospering with the Tribe
On June 22, 2020, Asia Cement took the initiative to declare that focusing on the mining project, it would show its good faith and intention to initiate the counseling procedure with the surrounding tribes based on the principles of “Free, Prior, Informed Content (FPIC). Many presentations and meetings were conducted during the period, with a total of 2500 attendances.
After diligently hearing and collecting all opinions from the attendees after multiple communications and discussions in the tribal meetings, Asia Cement placed itself in the position of the tribe and proposed “10+11” benefit sharing mechanisms; in addition to the existing 10 items, another 11 items were added which met with the most needs of the tribal people. Items covers everything from the birth, studying in schools, getting married, having children, jobs, and all the way to the care of the elderly, providing care for each stage of life. Asia Cement responded practically to the expectations of the tribal people, to show genuine sincerity.
 |  |
|---|
 |  |
|---|
On February 12, 2022, the meeting for vote for agreement was conducted in Bsngan Tribe, the delegates of whom had the right to vote carried out an autonomous vote through a democratic procedure. At the same day the result revealed that 83% of residents support Asia Cement to continue the local mining. Asia Cement hoped that this counseling procedure could become the model of respecting indigenous people by enterprises. Asia Cement had kept its commitment to establish the proposed benefit sharing mechanism to maintain good practical relationship with the neighbors and the safety of the mining area, to fulfill corporate social responsibility and to co-exist/co-proser with the tribe.
 |  |
|---|
Community Engagement and Development
1. Through Asia Cement Service Center and the Asia Cement Bodhi Charity Association, we promote community engagement and development, addressing local issues through development initiatives.
2. We engage in community service and charitable donations, establish the "Asia Cement Emergency Relief Application Review Principles," and accept applications for emergency assistance.
- In 2022, a total of 236 households and 289 residents in poverty, bedridden elderly, and those in urgent need of daily supplies were visited and assisted, another 114 cases of application for emergency relief were completed.
3. Since 1991, the employees of Hualien Plant took the initiative to autonomously conduct a personal tribal charity activity. Hence, in 2005, a Hualien County Asia Cement Bodhi Charity Association was established and completed the legal registration.
- Currently, the members include 116 employees and 27 subcontractors.
- Initiative taken to understand and care for disadvantaged residents, supported 25 residents and 5 social welfare groups over long periods of time.
Building a Green Environment for the Tribe
- The Company had not only created local job opportunities and taken care of local families, but also trained them with specialties. The mining mountain nursery room provided free seedlings for the uses of teaching, forestation and maintaining good relations with neighbors. Asia Cement continuously assisted schools, institutions, and community to build butterfly ecological classrooms through nectariferous plants.
- In 2022, a total of 138 tree seedlings, 10,000 seeds and 150 herbivorous and nectariferous plants were given to residents, local community, schools, and institutes.
Building Free Mountain Spring Water Supply System
- Regarding the water use problem of Ayu tribe located at the bottom of the mining area, Asia Cement took the initiative of placing a 5-ton mountain spring water tank, connecting 2-km pipelines to each household, and installing the maintenance measures including time-controlled water supply, water level monitoring and video recording monitoring.
- In total, 54 households benefited in 2022.
Building a Happy Living Environment for the Tribe
- For any house repair needs, if the resident submits the application, Asia Cement Hualien Plant will immediately send a professional engineering team to do the repair free of charge; including crest, rooftop, waterproof of exterior walls, patching of ceiling concrete peeling off. The warranty of the work and future inspection and maintenance are provided after the repair. The quality of the services was improved by way of resident satisfaction survey.
- In 2022, a total of 36 houses were repaired. Asia Cement also donated cement and firebrick to local association or community to assist in improving living environments.
Applying Water Conservation Expertise to Improve Water Drainage in the Community
- Since 2015, Asia Cement has adopted “Nameless River” channel which is located at the bottom of Hsinchengsheng Mining Site, it routinely provides the work of dredging, pitching stones to maintain the slope, managing water levels, adjusting flowing water, ensuring the stability of river channel to have smooth water flow in order to protect the safety of local residents.
- In addition to Asia Cement, 4 public agencies were involved in the work of assistance. It was the only program of improving the overall water drainage for a single tribe in Taiwan by involving water drainage specialists. The constructions were completed sequentially.