DM 10 million to fight fires

DM 10 million to fight fires

SAMARINDA, East Kalimantan: The government of Germany, through
the Integrated Forest Fire Management -- German Agency for
Technical Cooperation (IFFM-GTZ), has allocated DM 10 million
(US$5.32 million) to help control forest fires in the Indonesian
province of East Kalimantan from 1994 to 2003.

"The German Development Bank (KFW) has supported the project,"
IFFM-GTZ team leader Ludwig Schindler said after the third
workshop on the IFFM-GTZ project for 2000-2003, held here last
Thursday, Antara reported.

The assistance was partly distributed in the form of equipment
and training.

"The Indonesian government in return has provided skilled
workers, operational funds, and other facilities," Schindler
said, adding that more than five million hectares of forests were
burned in Kalimantan in 1982 and 1983.

The IFFM-GTZ project has activated 12 fire centers in East
Kalimantan to anticipate forest fires amid a long drought
projected to last until November, Schindler noted.

Some fire centers have been set up at the Kutai National Park,
Bukit Soeharto Park and several forestry offices. (edt)