Anticipating the dry season

Anticipating the dry season

The dry season has come, bringing drought to many parts of
Indonesia. The temperature has also increased in some parts of
the country. The weather has also become worse due to the El Nino
phenomenon.

Haze has not only covered West Kalimantan, but also North
Sumatra over the past few days. It is feared that neighboring
countries will lodge strong protests over the haze from
Indonesia.

It is always villagers who are blamed for the haze when forest
fires start, even though they clear land in small areas only,
compared to the big businessmen who always set fire to their
thousands of hectares of timber estates.

The government should prepare for forest fires by having
reliable equipment on standby -- helicopters as well as trained
firefighters -- as extinguishing fires needs professionalism.

-- Republika, Jakarta