Don't trust this company with our Great Barrier Reef
Reports of bribery, illegal construction, destroying protected environments and corruption.
This is the company who wants to be trusted with the world's biggest coal port on our Great Barrier Reef coastline.
Can you watch this video, then share it with as many people as you can? Adani still needs to borrow billions of dollars to make this project happen, and we need investors to know exactly who they'd be dealing with.
An investigation by the Karnataka anti-corruption ombudsman discovered Adani was involved in large scale illegal exports of iron ore. The report was set up to investigate "large scale corruption and complaints of profiteering through illegal mining with the complicity of the authorities in all levels of Government."
By using overloaded trucks and accepting iron ore from unlicensed dealers, Adani was involved in the theft of massive amounts of iron ore, resulting in "huge" economic losses to the government.
The report found Adani was bribing officials to receive "undue favour for illegal exports". The report found that "The officials of Port Department, Customs, Police, KSPCB, CRZ, Mines, Local politicians and others are involved in receiving the bribe money from M/s. Adani Enterprises."
You can find the ombudsman's full report by clicking here.
In 2015 an investigation into Adani by the Sydney Morning Herald uncovered evidence of a very murky money trail leading to tax havens in the Cayman Islands, criminal investigations, and secret ownership. In fact, due to inconsistencies in the company's documents, it's unclear who even owns Abbot Point
The story revealed much of the Adani empire could be owned by Gautam Adani's secret brother, who happens to be under criminal investigation for allegedly siphoning over a billion dollars from shareholders into offshore accounts.
You can read the full expose here: www.smh.com.au/business/uncertainty-over-massive-queensland-mine-after-election-shock-and-concerns-over-indian-company
Adani's approval for its Mundra port states "no existing mangroves shall be destroyed during the construction/operation of the port," and explicitly stated reclamation of creeks was prohibited.
Here's what the Indian Ministry of Environment and Forests here found:
- Large areas of mangrove were filled with dredge spoil (or, 'reclamated').
- 75ha of mangroves were destroyed in a conservation area.
- Dredging infrastructure blocked water supply to large areas of mangroves, drying them up and killing them.
You can read the environmental report and see shocking images of the damage by clicking here.
The investigative committee found Adani was "less that serious" about complying with the environmental conditions placed on the approval.
They inadequately managed the release of fly ash, and failed to take even basic steps to prevent salinity groundwater from leaking into the local environment.
To read about Adani's other environmental failings at its Mundra port, click here.
Yep, really.
The Government received so many allegations of environmental breaches at Adani's Munda port, it created a special committee to investigate them all.
Among the raft of breaches the committee confirmed, it found Adani had built an airstrip and aerodrome without environmental approval.
You can read about that violation, and many others, by clicking here.
An investigation by Fairfax Media found evidence that Adani were exploiting their Indian workforce by underpaying them, overworking them, and exposing them to lax health and safety standards.
Many labourers working on a luxury housing project in Gujarat were reportedly forced to live in makeshift houses with dirt floors, and no running water or toilets. The poor sanitary conditions led to regular outbreaks of cholera from contaminated drinking water.
Almost one fourth of the workers were paid less than the minimum wage of $4 a day, and some were not paid at all, waiting months for pay while receiving about $9 a week for "food expenses". Many labourers reported that they were overworked for this pitiful wage. A 12 year old boy said he was paid about $2.60 a day to carry water to the labourers for 12 hours a day, six days a week.
Adani group were able to avoid complying with state and federal laws by outsourcing their labour to multiple contractors.
Read the full story here: www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/concerns-at-barrier-reef-contractors-humanitarian-environment-record
Huge thanks and congratulations on the hard work of Greenpeace, who researched and compiled this document, detailing many of Adani's failings.
You can access the report by clicking here.