E. Kalimantan forest fires leave 330 people homeless<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The fires raging through East Kalimantan's
\nforests have gutted 42 houses in Loa Janan Hilir and Samarinda
\nSeberang subdistricts near Samarinda, leaving 330 residents
\nhomeless, Antara reported yesterday.<\/p>\n
The news agency said one of the houses caught fire Thursday
\nmorning after being engulfed by burning vegetation. The blaze
\nthen spread and burned down a market place in Loa Janan Hilir. No
\ncasualties were reported.<\/p>\n
It took the fire brigade two hours to put out the fire that
\ncaused an estimated Rp 500 million (US55,000) in material losses.
\nLocal police arrested a number of people for looting during the
\nincident.<\/p>\n
There were no details as to how the fire started. But
\nSamarinda police chief Lt. Col. Sutrisna Setiawan called on
\nresidents to be more aware of the danger of fires during the
\ncurrent drought blamed on the abnormal weather pattern El Nio.<\/p>\n
The southern parts of East Kalimantan, including Samarinda,
\nBalikpapan and Kutai are considered particularly prone to fire.
\nIn this region alone, 131,000 hectares of forest and brush have
\nbeen gutted by fires.<\/p>\n
The northern part of the province, including Tarakan,
\nBulungan, and Berau, are reportedly enjoying rain.<\/p>\n
Antara also quoted a report from Nairobi that the United
\nNations Environmental Program's (UNEP) executive director, Klaus
\nToepfer, appealed on Thursday to the international community to
\nintervene and help extinguish the fires which are devastating
\nIndonesia and Brazil.<\/p>\n
The fires' were having a massive depleting impact on the
\nenvironment and were spreading at an alarming rate, Toepfer said.<\/p>\n
\"UNEP alone cannot contain this fire, it is calling for swift
\naction from the international community.<\/p>\n
\"UNEP does not only need funding for the fighters; countries
\ncan also help by sending fire fighters to augment the efforts
\nalready on the ground,\" he said, noting that the fires were
\ncontinuing to destroy biodiversity.<\/p>\n
\"UNEP formerly concentrated its fire fighting in the national
\nparks but looking at the hot spots, it has become an uphill
\ntask,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Topfer did not deny fears that the fires might have been
\nstarted by farmers in certain areas, but he was emphatic that his
\nimmediate priority was to extinguish the blazes and not to
\napportion blame.<\/p>\n
\"The middle-term (task) will be to define the fire problem.
\nThe long-term objective is however to discuss with the
\ngovernments how to avoid such occurrences and bring understanding
\nfor alternative ways of handling issues,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Antara also reported from London that Britain launched an
\ninitiative on Thursday to improve the ability of Southeast Asian
\nstates to deal with a series of environmental disasters that have
\nblighted the region over the past year.<\/p>\n
The scheme, to be managed by the European Community
\nHumanitarian Office (ECHO), aims to teach local government and
\ncommunity officials the basics of disaster management and how to
\ncope with fires, floods, earthquakes, typhoons and toxic
\npollution.<\/p>\n
British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said the initiative was a
\ngood example of how Europe and Southeast Asia could work together
\nto tackle issues of immediate concern.<\/p>\n
\"Last year's fires in Southeast Asia brought home to all of us
\nthe impact of environmental change on the daily lives of
\nmillions,\" he told a news conference to launch the scheme, which
\nalso envisages training farmers in land-use techniques to limit
\nsoil erosion.<\/p>\n
ECHO has already earmarked 1 million ($1.65 million) for the
\nscheme this year and plans to make substantially more funds
\navailable in future years.<\/p>\n
The scheme is to be officially endorsed by European and Asian
\nleaders when they meet next week in London for the second Asia-
\nEurope Meeting, which groups the 15 members of the European
\nUnion, 10 Asian nations and the European Commission. (swe)<\/p>",
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