E. Kalimantan forest fires leave 330 people homeless

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)