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PAK 2000 Fails to Meet Its Public Commitments
The luxury shopping bag and packaging company PAK 2000 is back in the Paper Planet news, but this time for very unfortunate reasons. Readers may recall an announcement that better protection for Indonesia's rainforests was, "in the bag." At that time, New Hampshire based luxury packaging company PAK 2000 announced that they would cut all financial ties with their majority shareholder, Asia Pulp and Paper (APP), by the end of 2009.
The commitments were made working closely with Rainforest Action Network (a member of Environmental Paper Network). In December 2009 RAN wrote to about 100 customers and potential customers of PAK 2000 informing them of the positive commitment and outlining the steps to be taken in the coming year. Unfortunately, after working over the past year to resolve the situation, RAN has been forced now to communicate once again with those same companies, this time to inform them that PAK 2000 has failed to meet its commitments. The letter also details APP's deception over the past year.
The new letter sent this week to current and potential customers of PAK 2000 by RAN's Executive Director, Rebecca Tarbotton, states....
The commitments were made working closely with Rainforest Action Network (a member of Environmental Paper Network). In December 2009 RAN wrote to about 100 customers and potential customers of PAK 2000 informing them of the positive commitment and outlining the steps to be taken in the coming year. Unfortunately, after working over the past year to resolve the situation, RAN has been forced now to communicate once again with those same companies, this time to inform them that PAK 2000 has failed to meet its commitments. The letter also details APP's deception over the past year.
The new letter sent this week to current and potential customers of PAK 2000 by RAN's Executive Director, Rebecca Tarbotton, states....
"In December last year, PAK 2000 made commitments to your company, to RAN and to other customers to sever its connection with Asia Pulp and Paper, stop sourcing Indonesian and other controversial paper and fiber and adopt a best in class paper purchasing policy. I am deeply disappointed to inform you that PAK 2000 has failed to meet these commitments and appears to be unwilling to do so. Because of this, I once again urge you to suspend contact and business with PAK 2000. RAN believes this company is both misleading and continues to contribute to the destruction of Indonesia’s rainforests.
Since making these commitments last December, PAK 2000’s founder and former CEO Claude Roessiger has been forced out, and control of the company has been taken back by Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) under the leadership of long time APP associate Howard Lo."the letter describes events over the past year, and concludes by saying...
"Our conclusion is that PAK 2000 is back under APP control and has lied to the staff of PAK 2000, RAN and your company. The transparency and trust that had been growing though our negotiations with PAK 2000 under Mr. Roessiger’s leadership, and that had been a cornerstone of the voluntary agreement reached between PAK 2000 and RAN, have disappeared. Further, PAK 2000 has reneged on their commitments to eliminate controversial fiber by July 2010 and to adopt an FSC preference procurement policy. In fact, as an affiliate of APP, PAK 2000 may lose its FSC chain of custody certification entirely.
Given these developments, RAN can no longer recommend PAK 2000 as an environmentally responsible or reliable business partner. We urge you to eliminate any business you have with PAK 2000 due to the company’s failure to meet its commitments, lack of transparency and links to APP, a company whose history is rife with social, environmental and financial controversy."
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8 comments:
In all honesty as a previous PAK employee this illusion of the actual ownership was propagated under the management and leadership of Mr. Roessiger and others within the management team and yes it is true that the employees were in fact lied to as to the actual ownership of PAK 2000. Overveen is nothing more than a front for APP and CH Lo…(a.k.a. Howie by PAK staff) has continued with the lies and deceptions to the PAK employees and customers. It is nice to see the facts are finally coming out.
As a previous APP employee who has worked with Howie (Howard Lo), the new PAK2000 leader, I can tell you, Howie is no better of a leader than Claude. His management at Nippecraft Limited in Singapore is a total disaster. Frequently shouts and abuses his employees, he has managed to increase turnover to an all time high at a month. Of course, not to mention, he throws chairs and breaks office window glass. Yes, APP is a dishonest firm that unfortunately even the owner, Mr Teguh Wijaya, doesn't realize the childish behavior of Howard Lo. Instead of assigning him as the new leader for PAK2000, I believe he is better off fired back to Taiwan for causing trauma to his employees.
Again, I think the problem here is much bigger than just Howard Lo. APP is a lying beast of a company in every way, and the world should stop doing business with it.
As a previous PAK 2000 employee, I contemplate pressing charges against Howard Lo on a very frequent basis, based on how he treated me and the others in that company. All who have left because of Howard Lo have left on their own. Those of us, should start a class action suit against him, PAK 2000 and it's parent company as they were notified of his behavior and blatantly ignored it. It's a shame that good people are treated so poorly and nothing is done about it. I think it's time for that to change.
Companies still using PAK 2000 today must realize the truth, but they still continue to work with them - it says alot for companies who don't care about our planet or turn their heads to this. Hopefully these brands do not want to jeapordise their image any longer - being "Green" these days means a better understanding of who your suppliers/partners are. APP is below the surface, and we all know Overveen is just a front, FSC, didn't you pull your license from APP in 2007, this is certainly an affliation of APP.
I think we should do just that. We should start a class action lawsuit against Howard Lo for causing trauma to previous employees that have worked under him, including Nippecraft Limited and PAK2000. We could even sue the owner, Mr. Teguh Ganda Wijaya and his daughter, Linda, for ignoring the abuse and everlasting trauma Dr. Lo has caused at the workplace.
APP has a poor history of respecting employee rights and respecting nature itself. And of course, not to mention the billions dollars of debts that it still has to pay off. Dr. Howard Lo is a true reflection of what APP is all about. Looks like Howie is doomed.
Now PAK 2000 and APP, in an effort to sever their ties with Howie, or make it appear as such, have chosen a new CEO. This guy, Paulie, has trouble spelling CAT even if you spot him the C and A. However he is the ideal lackey for APP and will follow their directions without a blink. Let's hope that The Paper Planet and RAN can get the truth about these guys into the market place so that the games being played will cease. Merry Christmas, and let's hope your trees didn't come from Indonesia.
With Paul as their new leader, it will be even more of a joke. PAK is still OWNED BY APP and from what I have heard of this Paul guy, BS runs smoothly from his lips. RAN and FSC need to take some action NOW - SO every brand out there, knows who they REALLY ARE. Their Sales staff must be lying through their teeth when they meet new clients - They are full of lies - under and above the line.
I always wonder how incompetent, negligence, and manipulative people can run businesses for so long. Good thing they're getting some heat! A shame to see a New Hampshire business go down though, always rooting for NH businesses to succeed and help this state.
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