House tells foreign NGOs to be 'fair'

JAKARTA: The House of Representatives has urged foreign non- governmental organizations (NGOs) not to become the instruments of destruction of Indonesia's forestry industry by encouraging campaigns for the boycott of the country's forestry products.

"We urge the government to take action in response to these negative campaigns by foreign NGOs. The minister of forestry and the minister of industry and trade must be more active in showing to the world that we're doing our best to combat illegal logging," said Rusnain Yahya, the head of House Commission III on agriculture, forestry and fishing.

Rusnain was commenting on recent campaigns by several foreign NGOs, including Greenpeace, urging the boycotting of tropical logs from Indonesia.

Greenpeace, he said, had even claimed that 90 percent of illegal logs were coming from Indonesia.

Rusnain added that the NGOs were being unfair in putting pressure on Indonesia, while ignoring the countries that imported the illegal logs from Indonesia.