The world’s largest nitrile glove maker Hartalega Holdings Bhd says the recent allegations against the company has caused damages running into millions of ringgit.

It says the allegations had come despite its total compliance of all regulations.

"We want to stop the bleeding. Our stock price is being affected, our shareholders are concerned and 635 of our employees are under tremendous stress due to these allegations," its managing director Kuan Kam Hon said today.

azlan He said Hartalega, which exports 100 percent of its products to 137 international clients in 39 countries, has been saddened by inaccurate and detrimental statements against the company, specifically its plant located in Bestari Jaya, Ijok.

Hartalega, which holds 35 percent of the US nitrile glove market, is also listed by Forbes Asia as one of the 200 'Best Under a Billion' companies.

"Out clients understand our standard but we still need to do a lot of explanation due to this, as they are very particular about environmental related issues," he said at a press conference called in response to the recent remarks in the media with regards to the company's operations.

Residents of Taman Suria, Bestari Jaya had recently raised health and safety problems like emission of toxic gas, discharge of effluence into drains and the construction of additional buildings too close to the housing scheme.

Constantly exceeds DOE standards

Following this, Hartalega invited the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti) and Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) to conduct a due diligence with the Department of Environment (DOE) yesterday.

NONE "They confirmed that Hartalega was in total compliance. I expect them to go through the evidence and come up with their own statements," said Kuan ( right ).

Hartalega says it has been in total compliance since its inception with all relevant laws including those relating to the environment and building.

In fact in some areas related to effluent discharge and emissions, Hartalega not only meets but has constantly exceeds standards enforced by DOE, Kuan said.

For instance, he said the department had relaxed the allowable Chemical Oxygen Demand of effluent water discharge from 100mg/l to 200mg/l, but Hartalega remained committed to maintaining the internal control to below 100mg/l, although such commitment brought in additional cost.

Similarly, he said the requirement for wastewater control is 200 particles per million (PPM) but Hartalega’s in house standard has been 100 PPM since its inception 20 years ago.

The emissions standard is also 200 PPM, while the company has reduced its discharge way below to 10 PPM, he said.

"Every waste from the plant is treated to comply with the standards that have been set by the authorities as we know we are in close proximity with the residents," he said.

Plant has been on industrial land

The company, he said spends about RM5.6 million annually for treating the waters before discharging them into the system and recently invested RM3.7 million to upgrade the environment control equipment.

NONE In addition, the company also engages independent consultants and inspectors who regularly test water and air emissions to ensure the company is always in full compliance, he said.

Kuan said that the drains were also not exclusively used by Hartalega. There are also other industrial waste being discharged through them, he added.

"There are also domestic discharge and rubbish being thrown into the drains, which also can cause environmental damages," he stressed.

Kuan said the land where their plant is located was an industrial land which had been in existence before the residential project came up.

"The problems associated with the lack of a sufficient buffer zone between the residential area and the factory is not the creation of Hartalega but we have taken every initiative to co-exist harmoniously," he said.

He said the company carried out several community projects in Taman Suria exceeding RM1 million.

- Bernama