When a company or institution faces distrust from clients, employees, or citizens, every public statement matters. A good public relations manager is hired, every word is carefully measured and scrutinized, and every thought is thoroughly analyzed. In crisis PR, there is no room for mistakes.
Rio Tinto finds itself in such a situation. The massive distrust in the proposed actions in the Jadar region and the renewed protests in the country have forced them to bring their CEO to Serbia to “explain to the public” what it’s all about.
Rio Tinto CEO Jakob Stausholm visited Ljubovija this weekend and shared his perspective on the issue in a conversation with the locals.
In addition to the repeated narrative that the lithium mining project is (for us) profitable and completely safe, so safe that those “involved in the mine operations will live in Loznica, eat local food, drink local water, and breathe local air,” Stausholm also offered six promises to the citizens.
These six promises included the responsibility of all leaders, living in the local community, transparency, dialogue, and the assurance that the Rio Tinto team in Serbia would never stop working to gain and maintain the trust of the public.
WHEN or IF?
However, the last promise is problematic.
“I promise that when we make a mistake, we will acknowledge it, correct it, learn from it, and not repeat it,” Jakob Stausholm said.
“When we make a mistake”? Considering that Stausholm was reading from a paper, this statement (promise) was written down, and it’s hard to say it was a slip of the tongue.
WHEN (when – in English) we make a mistake, is a significant difference from IF (if – in English) we make a mistake. Especially when it’s a project where there shouldn’t be any mistakes. Listening to Stausholm say this sentence, it’s not a matter of whether mistakes will happen, but when they will.
It’s clear that Rio Tinto and their CEO did not intend to say this, nor did they want to “announce” a mistake in the situation they’re in. It’s possible that to the CEO and his PR team, it didn’t matter whether they said “when” or “if.” But this is one of those instances where even one wrong word can completely change the perception of everything. In this case, it only deepens the public’s mistrust regarding the “Jadar” project.
Repeating mistakes
Even the second part of the sentence is problematic. “…acknowledge the mistake, correct it, learn from it, and not repeat it.”
Just four years ago, Rio Tinto destroyed a 46,000-year-old Aboriginal site in Australia to expand an iron ore mine. They apologized for the “mistake,” which was later found to not really be a mistake, and then last year damaged another Aboriginal rock shelter in Western Australia.
Let’s not forget that the punishment for this “offense” in 2020 was the dismissal of CEO Jean-Sébastien Jacques, who was “sent off” with $18.6 million.
Jakob Stausholm, the current CEO, replaced him.
Investor concerns
When it comes to transparency, a case from last year speaks volumes when Rio Tinto lost a radioactive capsule. The casing of the capsule contained a small amount of radioactive cesium-137, which can cause serious illness if touched. The capsule left the Gudai-Darri mine in Western Australia on January 12, and the loss was only reported on January 25. It was found six days later.
Let’s also remember that this year, the company is under pressure from investors due to concerns about water management at its two mines in Mongolia and Madagascar.
The civil society group Accountability Counsel, which works with Mongolian herders, told Reuters in February that livestock had become sick and died after mining operations began, which herders blame on the deteriorating water quality.
Rio Tinto has not adequately addressed their concerns, the statement said.
Although Rio Tinto assured that they have a “rigorous water quality monitoring program,” even the project’s lenders, including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), declared this an environmental incident.
Source: Bonitet.com
