NU Regrets Health Minister's Stand Over FCTC

Jakarta (Antara) - Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Indonesia's largest Muslim organization, has regretted the stand of Health Minister Nafsiah Mboi who insisted on asking President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to ratify the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). "If the President approves and accesses FCTC, it will be a great disaster for the Indonesian farmers," chief of the NU executive board's counseling and legal aid institute Andi Najmi Fuaidi said here on Monday. Restriction on tobacco plants will be a blow to farmers and other members of the community, he said. "We must admit that tobacco is the engine of the economy of millions of Indonesian people," he added. As a matter of fact, tobacco had contributed considerably to state revenues, he remarked. "It is not easy to ask tobacco farmers to switch to other plant commodities because planting tobacco is the legacy from their ancestors," he said. (*)