Central Java towns call for water bombers to fight fires
Central Java towns call for water bombers to fight fires
JAKARTA (JP): Police in the Central Java towns of Boyolali and
Semarang urgently called yesterday for foreign water bombers to
help extinguish forest fires raging at several locations,
including on Mt. Merbabu and Mt. Potro.
Traditional methods of firefighting have failed to contain the
fires as they were located on steeply sloping riverbanks.
"It would be very helpful if the American volunteers (equipped
with water bombers) came here to contain the fires," said Lt.
Col. Beno Kilapong, chief of the Salatiga police precinct, as
quoted by Antara.
He said fires might also spread to other mountains like Mt.
Gajah and Mt. Telomoyo.
"We have tried to put out the fires with traditional methods
but have encountered difficulties due to their locations being
too difficult to reach," Beno said.
An international contingent, including from the United States,
has been helping extinguish fires which have razed hundreds of
thousands of hectares on plantations and in forests mainly in
Sumatra and Kalimantan since July.
A dozen Hercules planes and helicopters from Singapore,
Malaysia, Australia and Japan have been deployed to help contain
fires. Water bombers from the United States also began an eight-
day mission in East Java on Oct. 22.
Singapore is still allowing Jambi to continue using pollution-
recording equipment, lent to the province a few months ago, to
measure danger levels of the haze because smoke still enveloped
some regencies in the province, local officials said Thursday.
"We still cannot contain fires on peat land in Tanjung
Jabung," Jambi deputy governor Uteng Suryadiatna said.
The number of tourists visiting the province has dropped by 40
percent because Sultan Thaha Airport has often been closed due to
poor visibility.
Many farmers in Semarang, Grobogan, Kudus and Boyolali in
Central Java have also complained that they could get almost
nothing from their paddy fields due to the prolonged drought.
"We have to eat tiwul (foodstuff made of cassava) because we
cannot afford to buy rice," Antara quoted a farmer in one of the
regencies as saying.
President Soeharto said early this month that farmers consumed
tiwul because they believed it would give them extra strength and
not because they did not have enough rice.
The fires have produced a haze which has blanketed not only
the two islands but also neighboring countries including
Singapore, Malaysia and even Thailand.
About 20 million people have suffered from respiratory
problems caused by the haze. The government has said the fires
were started by plantation and timber companies which burned
forests to clear land.
United Nations climate experts said in Geneva last week that
rains in Indonesia would not likely come before January next
year. (prb)