One killed, 17 villagers trapped in forest fire<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A forest fire has killed one teenager, injured
\ntwo women and trapped 17 others in Wanim village, Jayawijaya
\nregency, Irian Jaya, Antara reported yesterday.<\/p>\n
The news agency said the incident took place Wednesday. The
\ninjured women were evacuated and taken to the hospital in Wamena,
\nthe capital of the regency. As of yesterday afternoon, however,
\nthe fate of the trapped villagers was still not known.<\/p>\n
Antara did not elaborate on how the incident happened.<\/p>\n
Regent JB Wenas, who visited the remote village yesterday,
\ntold reporters in Wamena that locals were continuing to search
\nfor the 17 villagers.<\/p>\n
Wenas said that forest fires, that have ravaged areas near the
\nvillage for the past two months, have been spreading because of
\nthe strong wind blowing across the region.<\/p>\n
\"Not only have the fires destroyed houses, but destroyed
\nfarmlands as well, causing villagers to lose their food sources,\"
\nWenas was quoted as saying.<\/p>\n
Fires have ravaged hundreds of thousands of hectares of forest
\nin Sumatra, Kalimantan, Java and Irian Jaya. However, the
\nteenager's death was the first reported due to the fires.<\/p>\n
Six other deaths have been reported over the past month but
\nthey were a result of severe haze pollution caused by the forest
\nfires. Twenty million other people in Indonesia and several
\nneighboring countries are reportedly facing respiratory problems
\ndue to the haze.<\/p>\n
The government has orchestrated concerted efforts to combat
\nfires from the ground and from the air with some international
\nassistance and local volunteers.<\/p>\n
Malaysia, for instance, sent 1,078 firefighters. They returned
\nhome yesterday after helping to extinguish forest fires in the
\nprovinces of Riau, Jambi and South Sumatra for 23 days.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of thousands of protective respiratory masks and
\nother humanitarian relief has been dispatched either by the
\ngovernment, non-governmental organizations or international
\ncommunities to the worst-hit areas.<\/p>\n
Yesterday, for instance, Taiwan sent 100,000 protective masks.
\nIts business community donated 20,000 kilograms of rice to
\nIndonesia, according to the Taipei Economic and Trade Office
\nInformation Division.<\/p>\n
It said the donations would be received today by the chairman
\nof the National Disaster Management Coordinating Board Azwar
\nAnas, who is also the Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare.<\/p>\n
The Environmental Impact Management Agency (Bapedal) said that
\nas of Wednesday several towns in eight provinces in Sumatra and
\nKalimantan were still covered by thick haze.<\/p>\n
The airports of Sultan Taha in Jambi, Simpang Tiga in Riau,
\nTabing in Padang, Sultan M. Baddarudin in Palembang, Padang
\nKamiling in Bengkulu and Tjilik Riwut in Palangkaraya were still
\nclosed due to poor visibility, the agency said.<\/p>\n
It said the number of hot spots, or fire locations, increased
\novernight from 23 to 53 according to the satellite images
\ninterpreted by the United States' National Oceanic and
\nAtmospheric Administration.<\/p>\n
The agency also said that slight haze was still covering other
\nparts of Sumatra, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, South
\nKalimantan, West Java and neighboring Malaysia and Singapore.<\/p>\n
It said the \"dominant\" wind was blowing westerly, toward the
\nIndian Ocean.<\/p>\n
Food<\/p>\n
In Jayawijaya regency in Irian Jaya, Wenas told Antara
\nyesterday that many villagers in remote areas in the mountainous
\nregency faced food shortages.<\/p>\n
He said worsening haze had hampered the planned airlift of
\nrelief to Baliem valley, where many villages were suffering from
\na lack of food.<\/p>\n
Two aircraft, one provided by the Mission Fellowship Aviation
\nand another by the Advent Christian foundation, along with a
\nhelicopter provided by the PT Freeport Indonesia mining company
\nwere already operating in Wamena to dispatch relief.<\/p>\n
Three hundred and ninety-eight malnourished people have died
\nof malaria and cholera in Jayawijaya. In Merauke regency in the
\nsouthern part of the province, 23 people have died for the same
\nreason.<\/p>\n
Twenty-four other tribespeople in Puncakjaya regency have also
\ndied, bringing the number of drought-related deaths in the Irian
\nJaya province to 445.<\/p>\n
Wenas warned the death toll could rise as the staple yam crop
\ncould not be harvested for at least another eight months.<\/p>\n
About 150 people in the regency are suffering from severe
\ndiarrhea, Antara reported. (aan)<\/p>",
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