Govt ignored warning, fires to continue<\/p>\n
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The central and local governments are to blame for the continuing
\nforest fires in Kalimantan and Sumatra as they ignored early
\nwarnings, a team of experts said on Friday.<\/p>\n
The team, set up under the auspices of the Ministry of
\nResearch and Technology, also called on the government to declare
\nthe fires and national disaster and to start evacuating people
\nliving near the burn offs to prevent further deaths.<\/p>\n
It also warned the government against playing down the team's
\nprediction of the forest fires continuing for the remainder of
\nthe year.<\/p>\n
Team member Bambang Hero Saharjo told a media conference the
\nexperts warned the government twice this year but it had done
\nnothing.<\/p>\n
\"First, we informed the government in January that forest
\nfires would return, but at that time they were busy with serious
\nfloods in Jakarta,\" said Bambang, a senior lecturer at the Bogor
\nInstitute of Agriculture.<\/p>\n
\"Then, in April we renewed our warning. They were supposed to
\nimmediately take preventive measures, but it turned out that no
\ninstitution followed up on our notification.\"<\/p>\n
The team was set up to mitigate the effects of climate
\ndisasters under the auspices of the Ministry of Research and
\nTechnology.<\/p>\n
Bambang said the government did not move to prevent the fires
\non the grounds it had not found signals that a drought would be
\ncaused by a weak El Nino.<\/p>\n
On the contrary, the team had expected a weak El Nino to occur
\nthis year, he said.<\/p>\n
El Nino is an abnormal water warming phenomenon in the Pacific
\nOcean. It changes patterns of wind and rain, which sparks severe
\ndroughts in Indonesia and neighboring countries but causes heavy
\nrain in western parts of South America.<\/p>\n
The El Nino in 1997-1998 partly triggered vast forest fires in
\nKalimantan and Sumatra, causing a thick haze to spread throughout
\nSoutheast Asia.<\/p>\n
He said this year's fire should be declared a disaster due to
\nits impact. \"There have been deaths and 7,000 others are
\nsuffering from upper respiratory tract infections,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"People in West and Central Kalimantan, in particular, have
\nbeen hit hardest by the forest and ground fires. The government
\nneeds to evacuate people surrounding the fire and provide them
\nwith food assistance,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Bambang suggested that the Ministry of Forestry assume the
\nposition of rescuing the people.<\/p>\n
\"It is obvious that the government, in this case the Ministry
\nof Forestry, must be responsible for handling the fires. It's
\nalready beyond the capability of the regencies and provinces,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
He regretted the fact that efforts to tackle the blazes were
\nminimal and even the forestry agencies in Kalimantan and Sumatra
\nwere reluctant to investigate the sources of the fires.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Erna Sri Adiningsih, who chairs the team, said the
\ngovernment should be alert for the possibility the fires would
\nburn for the remainder of the year.<\/p>\n
\"People in West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, Lampung, and
\nRiau must be cautious of forest fires until the end of this year.<\/p>\n
\"The possibility is 60 percent that those areas will be still
\ndry by the end of the year,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Instead of taking immediate action to deal with the fires, the
\ngovernment has blamed local people and migrants for the disaster.<\/p>\n
Forest concession companies are relatively free of accusations
\nof careless forest management although hot spots have also been
\nfound in their areas.<\/p>\n
Kalimantan is prone to forest fires due to its abundant peat
\nlands.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-ignored-warning-fires-to-continue-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}