Green campaign

I was surprised to read the article on page 7 entitled Activists attack green campaign as 'lip service' (The Jakarta Post, April 29, 1996).

As far as I know, the green consumerism campaign is meant to be environmentally friendly. However, the reverse has occurred. It was stressed in the discussion that entrepreneurs and industries should serve as a moral strength to realize the green consumerism ideal.

As an example, PT Aqua Golden Mississippi has donated Rp 800 million to the Dana Mitra Lingkungan foundation. This Aqua environmental program is not a mere "Public Relations Exercise".

However, strangely enough, this noble act of that company has been interpreted in such a biased way that the result could be perceived as an attack on the Aqua enterprise. Not to mention the fact that a number of senior staff members of the company were present on that occasion.

H. Hartono, head of the Aqua Concerns Program, inquired about the criteria for perfect environmental friendliness. In that context I suggested that Aqua should in due course try to obtain the ISO Certificate 14000, which contains the aspect of life cycle analysis.

Aqua Consumers' Claim Department's Dr. Christanto even added that a study has yet to be conducted on the impact of the ozonization process on human beings.

So, how could such an apparent attack against Aqua be justified, noting that it was Aqua that sponsored the discussion?

EKA BUDIANTA

Executive Director

Dana Mitra Lingkungan

Jakarta