Reply to Deni Purba

Reply to Deni Purba

Deni Purba of Leuser Development Program (LDP) (The Jakarta
Post, July 4, 2001) has questioned the purpose of my June 30
article on whether the conservation project was achieving its
mandate. The point of my article was to prompt a public response
to the questions: Given all the taxpayer money (EU and
Indonesian) LDP is consuming, has the project proved successful?
Who is evaluating this, and how?

I ask these questions publicly because one person asking
privately for information or accountability from an organization
often has little leverage with which to command disclosure and
honest answers. Public action like an article can sometimes
achieve this. When I've asked individual project members
privately about these things (and in the past I've asked many
questions of expatriate LDP staff) the responses were on the
order of, "You can't expect us to do much about resisting
corruption".

I'm sorry but I beg to disagree. The public should be able to
expect a lot from an EU-sponsored project in the way of business
ethics. I asked these questions now because the EU appears on the
verge of pouring more money into a project whose results and
management practices seem unexamined (albeit audited).

In the article I asked how much forest had been saved, and
Deni Purba answered that question. He also corrected the
impression I gave that all funds allocated have been spent; it's
true that I concluded this from data in a referenced news report
without verifying how much had actually been spent. I cited the
closed field stations not as a criticism but as one justification
why the project might not have met certain targets. I'll be happy
to tell Deni where I got the information about unofficial amounts
paid to retrieve the vehicles from customs and about the other
statements in my article. I haven't dreamed these up; why would I
or anyone want to "play into the hands of those who would rather
see those forests destroyed"?

I'm surprised that the EU would copycat the tactic used by
discredited prominent national figures when facing inquiries:
Instead of relying on facts, try to intimidate persons into
silence by threatening legal action. Some of my statements may be
embarrassing to LDP, but they were not libelous. Deni's tone
seems more defensive than open to an impartial pursuit of facts.
Articles like mine aren't what endanger Leuser Ecosystem.
Failing to question things, fortifying the illusion that LDP ipso
facto spells protection: this is what endangers the rain forest.

DONNA K. WOODWARD

Medan, North Sumatra