NGOs form consumer protection body
NGOs form consumer protection body
JAKARTA (JP): Several women's organizations formed a consumer
protection body to seek solutions on problems often faced by
consumers in the capital.
Coordinator of the body, called the Consumer Protection
Association (PPK), Mrs. Syaiful Mufty said that the body would be
a legitimate one given that most of the association's members
were housewives.
"Housewives are the ones who control family spending and have
also become the main targets of product marketing," Mrs. Syaiful,
who is also a member of the Indonesian Women's Congress (Kowani),
told a press conference on Friday.
Women's organizations already participating in the association
include Kowani, the Association of Indonesian Women (Perwari),
the Family Welfare Team (PKK), the Muslim Wanita Aisyah
organization and the young Muslim women's organization Fatayat
NU, which is associated with the giant Muslim organization
Nahdlatul Ulama.
The various organizations have thousands of members in the
capital alone.
"Consumers, especially women, should be aware of marketing
tricks so they can make decisions rationally," Mrs. Syaiful said.
An executive of the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI)
Zumrotin K. Susilo said that the association would provide its
members with knowledge about products they planned to buy.
"Many housewives are ignorant when it comes to buying things.
Many of them don't even know that the snacks that they usually
give to their children are junk," Zumrotin told reporters on the
sidelines of the press conference.
Zumrotin also said that the women's organizations could use
their regular gatherings to collect data about problems faced by
consumers.
"Instead of using the gatherings to talk about less important
things they can use the events to collect data," Zumrotin said.
Zumrotin added that the newly established body would be a
partner of the 27-year-old YLKI.
The PPK coordinator said that the association's activities
included monitoring problems faced by consumers and figuring out
solutions which could be submitted to YLKI or to the government.
At the press conference, the new association presented their
findings on problems currently faced by consumers in the capital
including advertising, food products, and public services.
On the issue of advertising, the association concluded that
several advertisements which are currently being run in various
forms of media should be stopped.
PPK said that such ads often feature children while the
products, such as printers for PCs, detergent powders and
toothpaste, were not specifically aimed for them which was
unethical because the ads would make children force their parents
into buying the products. (jaw)