Govt to go all out in fight against forest fires<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Forestry and Plantations Sumahadi
\nvowed yesterday to do his best to tackle the prolonged forest
\nfires in East Kalimantan despite his ministry's limited budget
\nand equipment.<\/p>\n
The minister acknowledged shortages of sophisticated
\nequipment, including water bombers, had slowed efforts to tame
\nthe fires.<\/p>\n
\"Up to now we are trying to extinguish the fires by using
\nsimple equipment and by employing as many people as possible to
\nput out the fires. Of course this is rather difficult,\" Sumahadi
\nsaid after meeting with President Soeharto at his private
\nresidence on Jl. Cendana, Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
More than 127,000 hectares of forest, plantations and farmland
\n-- 40 percent of which is owned by timber companies -- have been
\nburned in the last three months. Losses from the fires exceed Rp
\n2.2 trillion (US$220 million).<\/p>\n
The head of the East Kalimantan Environmental Impact
\nManagement Agency, Awang Faroek, said Sunday that about 300
\npeople were employed daily to fight the fires on the ground. The
\ngovernment had also deployed two water bombers to spray water
\nfrom the air.<\/p>\n
Faroek said he expected the central government to accelerate
\nefforts to combat the fires because at least 5,000 people in the
\nprovince were suffering from smog-related diseases, including
\n3,400 people experiencing respiratory problems.<\/p>\n
\"We will also send fire fighters from other provinces to East
\nKalimantan next month to enable us work day and night,\" said
\nSumahadi.<\/p>\n
Haze caused by the forest fires in East Kalimantan has yet to
\naffect the flow of the foreign tourists, an official was quoted
\nby Antara as saying in the provincial capital Samarinda
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
The head of the provincial office of the ministry of tourism,
\narts and culture, Ibnu Darmawan, said there had not been any
\nreports of trip cancellations from any of the 80-odd travel
\nagencies in the province.<\/p>\n
However, the director of a local travel agency PT Hopes Travel
\nBalikpapan, Antoni Tambunan, told The Jakarta Post yesterday that
\nhis company had canceled at least five trips due to the forest
\nfires.<\/p>\n
\"If there are 10 people on each package tour, this means some
\n50 foreign tourists have canceled their trips over the past three
\nmonths,\" Antoni said.<\/p>\n
He estimated hundreds of foreign tourists had canceled their
\ntrips to the province in the last few months.<\/p>\n
Ibnu was quoted by Antara as saying that 42,817 foreign
\ntourists visited the province last year. (byg\/prb)<\/p>",
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