JAKARTA – The decision of the central information commission (KIP) to ask Greenpeace Indonesia to be transparent on its financing sources can be taken as a momentum to require a financial transparency from all environment NGOs operating in Indonesia. Such transparency is badly needed to find out their interests in conducting their campaigns in Indonesia.

“Legislators agree that the government should take decisive action against the NGOs that refuse to be transparent, but they keep conducting activities to disturb our national interests. The government should ban the NGOs if they refuse to be transparent on their financial sources. They have always demanded a transparency in their campaigns. But when it comes to the issue their organizations’ transparency, they refused. They should set an example of themselves first,” Effendi Sianipar, a member of the house of representatives’ (DPR) Commission IV, said in a press release on Wednesday, 04 August 2021.

He said that the Indonesian people have the rights to know the financial sources and financial uses of NGOs operating in Indonesia. They want to know whether their financing is derived from foreign sources. There is a possibility that the foreign fund is aimed to disturb Indonesia’s national interest. For such purpose, the NGOs should be open and transparent.

“The NGOs have always claimed that their campaigns are for the interests of society and environmental protection. But which society, and who do they work for?. It’s not for our national interest,” said Effendi, a legislator of PDI-P, the biggest political party in the ruling coalition that supports the administration of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi).

Besides Greenpeace, one of the NGOs which has often launched negative campaigns against Indonesia’s palm oil industry is Mighty Earth. It is suspectedly linked to Norwegian Agency for Development (NORAD), which has been attacking the palm oil industry through campaigns of deforestation.

Firman Subagyo, a member of DPR Legislation Body said the activities of the NGOs should not be tolerated as they harm the economic interest. “The NGOs have very often launched black campaigns against palm oil industry, by raising issues of health, labor, environmental and social based on only unsubstantiated data. They’ve gone too far. The government should take decisive actions against them,” said Firman, a legislator from Golkar party, which is also part of the ruling coalition.  (*)

Source: KONTAN.CO.ID | Featured image via idhsustainabletrade.com