House tells foreign NGOs to be 'fair'

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.