Fire razes pine forest in Gowa regency<\/p>\n
Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post, Malino<\/p>\n
A fire, which activists believe was deliberately set, continued
\nto burn a path of destruction through a protected pine forest on
\nMonday near the resort town of Malino in Gowa, South Sulawesi.<\/p>\n
Authorities told local residents to stay on alert lest the
\nblaze threaten nearby residential areas.<\/p>\n
South Sulawesi natural resources conservation agency head Edi
\nPurwanto said on Monday the fire had engulfed more than 20
\nhectares of the protected forest in the Tinggimoncong district,
\nabout 70 kilometers south of Makassar, since it broke out on
\nFriday night.<\/p>\n
Fires were first detected on Friday at 8 p.m. and grew
\nquickly, fanned by high winds.<\/p>\n
\"When we saw the location, the fires had spread as wind was
\nblowing strongly as it does in the dry season,\" Malino
\nenvironment agency head Yahya Nasir said on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Yahya suspected the fire started from a cigarette butt thrown
\naway on a road leading to the resort town of Malino.<\/p>\n
However, local environmental activists said they believed the
\nfire was deliberately set to open plantation or resort areas in
\nthe gutted forest.<\/p>\n
Yahya warned the fire could spread to nearby cocoa, vanilla
\nand clove plantations and settlement areas in Parigi village and
\nGantarang. Fire fighters there would be powerless to stop its
\nprogress as they used only traditional equipment and approaches,
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
\"Apart from that, about 700 meters away from the fire there is
\na gas station,\" Yahya said.<\/p>\n
He advised local residents to take refuge if the fire
\nencroached on their areas.<\/p>\n
Officials fear the forest's destruction could cause flooding
\nin nearby areas in the rainy season and water shortages during
\nthe dry season.<\/p>\n
The 3,500-hectare forest is in a significant catchment area
\nthat supplies water through the Bili-Bili dam for at least seven
\nregencies and cities across South Sulawesi -- Gowa, Makassar,
\nMaros, Takalar, Jeneponto, Bantaeng and Sinjai.<\/p>\n
About 1,000 hectares of the forest had already been decimated
\nby loggers or had been converted into housing and recreational
\nareas.<\/p>\n
Located on the slopes of Mount Bawakaraeng, the forest was the
\nlegacy of the Dutch colonial administration and was made a
\nnatural tourist are because of its cool climate and scenic
\nwaterfall.<\/p>",
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