NGOs to ask APEC to consider people

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian non-governmental organizations are set to press their demands for leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) to pay better attention to the impact of global free trade.

A delegation of representatives of Indonesian NGOs will attend the APEC meeting in Manila later this month.

"APEC has only been focusing on economic matters, free trade and globalization and has failed to consider the common people who have to bear the impact of their policies," activist Tati Krisnawaty said here yesterday.

Representing Women's Solidarity, an NGO which handles matters relating to women migrant workers, Tati said economic globalization which emphasizes profit has stimulated unhealthy competition, exploitation and consumerism.

Indonesian NGOs demand that APEC member countries ratify international conventions to strengthen civil society.

The need to protect migrant workers' rights, and environmental protection issues will be raised by the NGOs.

Maria Pakpahan, a program officer at the International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development (INFID), said the Indonesian delegation would raise the issue of rights for migrant workers and child laborers.

"The main problem in Indonesia is poverty," Maria said, adding that insisting on the elimination of child labor would be irrelevant. The issue is how to protect child workers from exploitation, she said.

The APEC ministerial meeting in Manila will open on Nov. 22 while the summit meeting will take place on Nov. 25. It will focus on APEC's plan of action.

Emmy Hafild of the Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi) said the Indonesian NGO delegation would raise the issue of the impact of wealthy countries relocating industries in Indonesia.

She said she feared that more dirty industry relocations would take place in Indonesia because neither environmental law nor labor protection was effectively enforced in Indonesia.

"Should we sacrifice the environment for the sake of free trade?" Emmy asked, adding that imposing low environmental standards to maintain high competitive advantage was an outdated notion.

International environmental standards for common practices would prevent investors from exhausting the resources and destroying the ecosystems of other countries, she said.

Textile, chemical and mining industries were the most destructive, she said.

The delegation from several NGOs, believes that APEC has failed to incorporate two main concerns: problems resulting from society's powerlessness, and sustainable development.

The increasing tendency of foreign environmentally-destructive investment, and the decreasing amount of land used for agricultural purposes are among the activists concerns.

The APEC People's Forum will be held in Subic. A rally is scheduled to proceed from Subic Bay to Manila City. (14)