Drought may drag on, forest fires may worsen
Drought may drag on, forest fires may worsen
JAKARTA (JP): The drought may continue well into June in East
Kalimantan, where new fires in January have ravaged tens of
thousands of hectares of forest, an official has said.
Deputy Chairman of the National Disaster Management
Coordinating Board, Maj. Gen. Adang Ruchiatna, said Saturday that
despite several weeks of rains recently, this year's forest fires
could be worse than last year's unless they were immediately
addressed.
"The rainy season predicted for January did not happen. Tens
of thousands hectares of forest have even been razed," said
Adang, reported Antara in the province's capital of Samarinda.
Adang said the bleak climate forecast in the province was
based on studies conducted by the Meteorology and Geophysics
Agency here and the United States.
"Therefore, we need to anticipate it early," warned Adang.
This year's environmental problems would be exacerbated by the
country's economic woes, he said.
Last year, a huge pall of smoke from the forest fires, mostly
from the Kalimantan and Sumatra islands, drifted across Southeast
Asia for months, causing health problems in neighboring Singapore
and Malaysia. The smog also reached parts of Thailand and the
Philippines.
Minister of Forestry Djamaludin Suryohadikusumo said recently
that 265,000 hectares of the country's forests were burned during
the fires in the long dry season in 1997, causing estimated
losses of Rp 260 billion (US$26,000).
The fires, many of them deliberately lit to clear land for
agricultural purposes, were blamed on a prolonged dry season
caused by the El Nino weather effect originating in the Pacific
Ocean.
Adang blamed "a lack of coordination between local government
agencies" for the province's tardiness in coping with the recent
forest fires.
Adang met with East Kalimantan Governor H.M. Ardans, chairman
of the provincial natural disaster coordinating board Suwarna
Abdul Fatah, and East Kalimantan military chief Col. Djali Yusuf
during his inspection in the province.
He was accompanied by the Environmental Impact Management
Agency's director of environmental damage control Yon Artiono
Arba'i, to collect ground evidence to confirm allegations that
the recent forest fires were manmade.
Adang said satellite images released by the German-sponsored
cooperating body Integrated Forest Fires Management, based in
Balikpapan, show that the fires were burning forest concessions
belonging to 10 companies.
They are PT Inhutani I, PT Oceanic Timber Product, PT Sumber
Mas IV, PT Sumber Mas Timber II, PT Persada Bumi Hijau, PT
Porodisa Trading Indonesia, PT ITCI, and PT GPI/ Kiani Kertas.
All are located in Kutai.
In Berau, the areas ravaged belong to PT Gunung Utama Timber,
while in Bulungan, they belong to PT Indah Meranti Permata Timor
Coy and to PT Inhutani I. (42/aan)