Indonesian blogger, Ong Hock Chuan, has taken up the case for Richard Ness, an American mining executive falsely accused by environmental NGO’s of deliberately polluting Buyat Bay in northern Sulawesi.
In a recent post Ong invited Wahli, the Indonesian arm of Friend’s of the Earth and the group who’s false accusations led to the arrest of Ness, to put their case at his blog.
This was their response:
“I’ve read your blog and my oppinion is there’s nothing we (Walhi) could discuss further about such topic you’ve thrown on your blog since you started it without critical question about ‘how businesses and NGOs can work together to protect and improve the environment’ like you said in your email below. i don’t know what your intention here but we refuse to answer your call to put our organization in such ‘brutal’ discussion in your blog.”
I don’t know, I reckon Ong’s blog would be much less brutal than an Indonesian jail… where Whali want to send Richard Ness.
Read the complete blog post here: http://theunspunblog.com/2007/01/31/australias-watching-where-is-walhi-newmont-and-the-other-players/
————————————
To read more about Richard Ness, click here and for more background on the trial read Eric’s blog, click here. If you want to know who Eric is, click here.
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD is a critical thinker with expertise in the scientific method.
Knowing someone currently in an Indonesian jail, I am in two minds as to whether Ong’s blog would be less brutal, but I don’t think that is a useful comparison to make in the first place. I don’t think Wahli have to put their case forward on a blog, and we need to remember that this matter is still before the courts. And no, I am not siding with Wahli, I just don’t believe in trial by blog, although judging by the title here, I think we can see where this thread is heading.
any excuse to bash an NGO
why Wally? are NGOs sacroscant and above critism?
For non-Australian readers ‘What a Wally’ is an Australian idiom: http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/46/messages/635.html
As I inferred, a negative term for a biased thread, again. Why should an NGO have to be answerable to some blogger’s site, and then be criticised by some woman in Australia.
I somehow get the impression Mr Ness has some strong financial backing behind him. I don’t think he would have been forced to sleep on the floor for months on end with no medical services provided to him, unlike the person I know. In Indonesia money can buy you a lot of things, and that includes reasonable facilities in a prison, especially if you are a foreigner.The ‘brutality’ of an Indonesian jail is often reflected in how much money you have. I have known of Indonesians who have no money to pay the prison’s nightly board and have been set alight or bashed. I have no ill-feelings towards Mr Ness and what his family are going through. In fact, I can sympathise very, very strongly. If he has got money to help him through, he is indeed very, very lucky.
(This comment was edited at 9.44am by JM, removing accusation already discussed at another thread. Lets stay civil and on topic.)
Travis: I think you have a point and the “brutality” of my blog should not be the issue.
The issue should be the accountability and openess of an NGO whom many believe has been responsible for false accusations leading to the detention without trial of Newmont executives and the subsequent ongoing trial of Rick Ness.
Should NGOs be accountable to bloggers? It is a good question and my response would be yes in a place like Indonesia where the mainstream media is not doing its job of holding anyone accountable – whether it is government, businesses or NGOs (see other posts in my blog if you’re interested in the issue).
I also think you are correct in saying that Ness did not have to sleep on the floor. I know that he was not detained with the five other Newmont executives but at the same time none of us would want to go through months facing the prospect of 15 years goal if convicted in court. But that is again a separate issue.As my fiend Sue would say: what’s that got to do with the price of fish?
There should not be two laws, NGOs are just as accountable as anyone else.
NGO’s may or may not play an important role but they are not above or beyond the law, after all it is the law that ensures justice.
A few questions for you, Ms. Jennifer:
* How ’bout a full disclosure of your financial interests ? Are you receiving payment from anyone, anywhere, or an entity that somehow comes from a certain mining company or associated interests ?
* In terms of the mainstream Indonesian press not doing its job: How the hell would you know ?
I’m willing to bet my own Wally that you don’t speak Indonesian. The fact is there’s a complex debate going on in the Indonesian press.
The fact is that although Newmont is basically a mining company now they were completely in bed wit the Suharto regime – they had to be – in the past and this raises some important questions. In short, you lay down with dogs you get fleas.
Now it may be unfair that Walhi are singling them out. Plenty of other foreign companies did it.
But Newmont has got away scot-free for paying brutal security officials before 1998, paying facilitation fees to government officials. Once again, everyone did it.
But the oh-so-squeaky-clean, poor little me image is a carefully concocted one. Unless of course they’re paying you.
* Finally – have you been to Indonesia ? Buyat Bay ? A mining site ? In which case, if you haven’t: how would you know ?
At least Walhi, for all their self-serving muck-racking actually get down into the muck- the honest, real-world muck, rather than the more insidious kind at PR agencies in Sydney, London and New York.
Hi Achmad,
I think you are confusing some of the comments from Ong with comments from me.
But I will attempt to answer the questions that relate to me.
This blog is run and financed by me. I am hoping make some money out of advertising, but not much yet.
I’m passionate about environmental issues and write on everything from polar bears to biotechnology.
I am a Senior Fellow at the IPA and the IPA is funded by a variety of individuals, philanthropists, and companies, including mining companies.
Richard Ness contacted me by email some time ago through this blog: http://www.jennifermarohasy.com/blog/archives/001860.html .
I could relate to his experiences perhaps because I saw the WWF run a similar campaign in North Queensland … but targeting my industry rather than a company/individual. In both cases the water quality data did not support the media headlines.
I used to speak fluent Indonesian, but that was 20 years ago. Back then I once worked as a translator for the Asian Development Bank as part of a transmigration project which included the importation of cattle from Australia.
When I was growing up my parents lived at Maiwa in southern Sulawesi and later in Kendari in south eastern Sualwesi. It is many years now since I have visited your country.
Hello Achmad,
Thank you for your contribution. Can you maybe summarise some of the debate going on in the Indonesian press for us? We seem to get only one side here.
Thank you Jennifer for answering Achmad’s questions.
very interesting, but I don’t agree with you
Idetrorce
In regards to Newmont, one need only look at the method they used at this mine in Northern Sulawesi to get an inkling of the system of corruption that allows such polluting foreign operations to thrive in Indonesia. For that mine Newmont used the archaic “deep sea disposal” method. I.e, all the millions of tones of crushed rock and ore waste was simply pumped down a pipe from the mine and jettisoned into the sea, out of sight out of mind. There is little doubt the Newmont Exectutive was guilty, and if his mine was doing the same thing in Australia or the USA he would be quickly jailed for a long sentence. In Indonesian the courts are profoundly corrupt, the verdict depends who pays the most to the judges, just read Indonesian newspapers, they daily report such scandals. The exoneration of the executive means nothing more than the Appeal judges were either bought off or there was political influence on the trial outcome, another common event affecting the outcome of the Indonesia courts.
Jennifer receives at least part of her income from the payments made by to IPA by mining companies, perhaps including Newmont. Her blog is part of her profile as a public commentator for the IPA which employs her, and her support for resource extractive industries is in line with the function of the IPA, ie a paid lobby for big business against any form of public regulation that will hinder their operations. As far as Jennifer being a committed environmentalist, maybe only in her privacy of her own backyard.
Sampai jumpa.
In the English mint, a pound weight of standard silver bullion is coined into sixty-two myspace layout codes music three 6 mafia the prohibition but that the more the exchange was against any fvwrjutois
In the English mint, a pound weight of standard silver bullion is coined into sixty-two myspace layout codes music three 6 mafia the prohibition but that the more the exchange was against any fvwrjutois