Corporate Responsibility

Recognising this, Lafarge Malayan Cement is proud to be playing a significant role in investing in tomorrow’s generation by promoting academic excellence and assisting needy students through Lafarge Malayan Cement’s Schools Project, increasing students’ knowledge through the sponsoring of newspapers and enhancing the quality of students’ school life by providing them an improved ambience for them to study and interact.

The Schools Project, which was launched in 1997, covering 29 schools in Rawang, Selangor;  Kanthan, Perak;  Pasir Gudang, Johor;  and Langkawi,  Kedah does not only honour deserving talents but also to assist needy students through Bursaries and Excellence Awards.  Students, from primary through secondary, are provided with monetary rewards.

In 2011, a total of 280 students benefited from the initiative with 192 students awarded the Lafarge Malayan Cement Bursary Award and 88 students received the Excellence Awards. 

Since the inception of the project, it has provided assistance to more than 2,500 students nationwide.

During the year, Lafarge Malayan Cement sponsored 5,000 copies of “Akhbar dalam Pembelajaran” or “ADaP” (Newspaper in Education), to the six schools under the Schools Project in Pasir Gudang, Johor. ADaP is the educational insert of Utusan Malaysia, which features guidelines and samples of questions for students sitting for “Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah” (Primary School Evaluation Test), Penilaian Menengah Rendah” (Lower Secondary Assessment)  and “Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia” (Malaysian Certificate of Education).

On 22 January 2011, teammates at Rawang Plant celebrated the Thai Pongal or Harvest Festival with the children from Persatuan Kebajikan Sri Saradha Devi Illam, Rawang.  The event was held at the company’s clubhouse in Rawang where pots of boiling rice cooked in milk and brown sugar and left to spill-over to symbolise prosperity were the highlight of the celebration.

In conjunction with Maulidur Rasul (birthday of Prophet Muhammad S.A.W.) on 15 February 2011, teammates at Langkawi Plant and the local community marked the occasion with a parade starting from the teammates’ housing quarters in Teluk Ewa and ending at Teluk Yu. 

One of the annual activities at all our plants to reach out to the local community is to break fast or “Buka Puasa” during the month of Ramadan.  Our teammates at Langkawi Plant and Rawang Plant held a breaking of fast with stakeholders consisting of teachers, local authorities and “Jawatankuasa Kemajuan dan Keselamatan Kampung” (JKKK) or village’s development and safety committee on 15 August and 18 August respectively.

In conjunction with Deepavali, our teammates at Kanthan Plant visited the residents at Persatuan Orang Istimewa located in Sungei Siput, Perak on 21 October 2011, and celebrated the festive occasion with fun-filled activities and delicious food.

In October 2011, Lafarge Malayan Cement partnered with CSI Leasing Malaysia Sdn Bhd to reach out to an Orang Asli Settlement in Kampong Tekir, Negri Sembilan.  There are about 300 people in the community and they are in need of facilities. Lafarge Malayan Cement contributed cement to rebuild the fencing to the Orang Asli Community, refurbish the kiddie care centre and building a library 

Tropical storm Washi hit the Philippines on 18 December 2011 leaving a trail of destruction that killed thousands of people and made scores of them homeless, including 30 of our own Lafarge employees and their families in the Philippines.  Lafarge Malayan Cement’s employees immediately initiated a donation drive to collect clothes, blankets and cash for the affected employees and its neighbouring communities.

On 6 April 2011, armed with brooms, rags and pails, teammates at Langkawi Plant rolled up their sleeves for a “gotong-royong” (cooperation among many people to attain a shared goal) at Teluk Yu to clean-up the surrounding areas.

In addition, the local community and teammates at Langkawi Plant gathered on 29 July 2011 to clean-up the burial grounds located at Teluk Ewa.

Road safety is of particular concern at Lafarge Malayan Cement, as on a daily basis, our trucks cover more than 120,000 km to and from more than 800-1,000 delivery points. The distance travelled is equivalent to circling the earth's circumference three times in a single day!

As part of our corporate responsibility, Lafarge Malayan Cement organised a road safety campaign at the Damansara and Subang Toll Plazas on 16 September 2011.  The desired objective is to create road safety awareness and remind motorists to drive safely and also distribute to them specially designed printed safety items with the theme “No to Road Accident”. About 40 employees of Lafarge Malayan Cement, led by the president & chief executive office, volunteered in this unique awareness-raising campaign.

This safety initiative was also carried out at Langkawi, Kedah; Pasir Gudang, Johor and Rawang, Selangor.

At Langkawi, on 7 October 2011, our teammates, together with the local community, took part in a road safety walk and took the opportunity to distribute safety items to pedestrians.

In Pasir Gudang, the road safety campaign was held on 18 November 2011 and it was held near the entrance to Johor Port.  More than 13 employees from Pasir Gudang Plant not only handed out goody bags consisting of safety items to motorists but also to remind them on safety.
 
On 9 December 2011, about 12 employees from Rawang Plant gathered at the Toll Plaza in Rawang to promote road safety to road users.

Lafarge Malayan Cement was one of the participating companies of the nature camp organised jointly with the Ministry of Natural Resources & Environment for secondary students in Langkawi.  The objective of the 2-day camp, held from 26 to 29 May 2011, was to create public awareness, especially to students, on the importance of preserving the environment.

Building rapport with local stakeholders is fundamental to Lafarge Malayan Cement.  During the year under review, we continued to establish collaborative relationships with our stakeholders living within the plants vicinity by constantly engaging them through regular meetings and dialogues to garner their views and feedback, and at the same time, responding to issues that are relevant to them and to our operations. 

Lafarge Malayan Cement was awarded the Singapore Green Building Product certification for Mascrete LH cement and Phoenix cement by the Singapore Green Building Council.  We are the first cement company in Malaysia to win the double-certification; the Singapore Green Label certification by the Singapore Environment Council and the Singapore Green Building Product certification by the Singapore Green Building Council.

In recognition of Lafarge Malayan Cement’s commitment to sustainable development, it was awarded an Innovative Award for Sustainable Production of Building Materials by the Malaysian French Chamber of Commerce & Industry on 24 June 2011.

Lafarge Malayan Cement was recognised as a sustainable development leader and was presented the "Enterprise Governance Award 2011 for Green Initiative" by The Malaysian Business and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants Malaysia on 27 September 2011.

On 21 November 2011, Lafarge Malayan Cement was one of the first Malaysian cement companies awarded the SIRIM Eco-Label for two of its cement products, Phoenix and Mascrete LH.