E. Kalimantan forest fires leave 330 people homeless
JAKARTA (JP): The fires raging through East Kalimantan's forests have gutted 42 houses in Loa Janan Hilir and Samarinda Seberang subdistricts near Samarinda, leaving 330 residents homeless, Antara reported yesterday.
The news agency said one of the houses caught fire Thursday morning after being engulfed by burning vegetation. The blaze then spread and burned down a market place in Loa Janan Hilir. No casualties were reported.
It took the fire brigade two hours to put out the fire that caused an estimated Rp 500 million (US55,000) in material losses. Local police arrested a number of people for looting during the incident.
There were no details as to how the fire started. But Samarinda police chief Lt. Col. Sutrisna Setiawan called on residents to be more aware of the danger of fires during the current drought blamed on the abnormal weather pattern El Nio.
The southern parts of East Kalimantan, including Samarinda, Balikpapan and Kutai are considered particularly prone to fire. In this region alone, 131,000 hectares of forest and brush have been gutted by fires.
The northern part of the province, including Tarakan, Bulungan, and Berau, are reportedly enjoying rain.
Antara also quoted a report from Nairobi that the United Nations Environmental Program's (UNEP) executive director, Klaus Toepfer, appealed on Thursday to the international community to intervene and help extinguish the fires which are devastating Indonesia and Brazil.
The fires' were having a massive depleting impact on the environment and were spreading at an alarming rate, Toepfer said.
"UNEP alone cannot contain this fire, it is calling for swift action from the international community.
"UNEP does not only need funding for the fighters; countries can also help by sending fire fighters to augment the efforts already on the ground," he said, noting that the fires were continuing to destroy biodiversity.
"UNEP formerly concentrated its fire fighting in the national parks but looking at the hot spots, it has become an uphill task," he added.
Topfer did not deny fears that the fires might have been started by farmers in certain areas, but he was emphatic that his immediate priority was to extinguish the blazes and not to apportion blame.
"The middle-term (task) will be to define the fire problem. The long-term objective is however to discuss with the governments how to avoid such occurrences and bring understanding for alternative ways of handling issues," he said.
Antara also reported from London that Britain launched an initiative on Thursday to improve the ability of Southeast Asian states to deal with a series of environmental disasters that have blighted the region over the past year.
The scheme, to be managed by the European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO), aims to teach local government and community officials the basics of disaster management and how to cope with fires, floods, earthquakes, typhoons and toxic pollution.
British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said the initiative was a good example of how Europe and Southeast Asia could work together to tackle issues of immediate concern.
"Last year's fires in Southeast Asia brought home to all of us the impact of environmental change on the daily lives of millions," he told a news conference to launch the scheme, which also envisages training farmers in land-use techniques to limit soil erosion.
ECHO has already earmarked 1 million ($1.65 million) for the scheme this year and plans to make substantially more funds available in future years.
The scheme is to be officially endorsed by European and Asian leaders when they meet next week in London for the second Asia- Europe Meeting, which groups the 15 members of the European Union, 10 Asian nations and the European Commission. (swe)