Fire damage estimates reach Rp 7.5 trillion

JAKARTA (JP): Fires raging in East Kalimantan forests have cost Rp 7.5 trillion (US$938 million) in lost timber revenues, not including the cost of damage to biodiversity, the decline in tourist visits and health costs, a local government official said yesterday.

East Kalimantan Deputy Governor Suwarna Abdul Fatah said his administration's latest estimate of the forest area ravaged by uncontrollable fires over the last three months was close to 400,000 hectares.

"The vast area burning, the presence of at least 39 permanent hot spots, and the continuing drought have made the fires hard to control," Suwarna said in Samarinda, as quoted by Antara.

Should the drought index, which currently stands at 2,000 -- 500 the normal level -- continue to rise, fires could break out in exposed coal seams, he said.

Suwarna said the province had become vulnerable to fires because of high temperatures.

"A lighted cigarette end carelessly dropped could threaten thousands hectares of forest," he said.

Suwarna said permanent hot spots were caused by fires in underground coal deposits which could easily ignite flammable material, including vegetation, on the surface.

According to Suwarna, the permanent hot spots were scattered around the 61,000-hectare Bukit Soeharto forest reserve and the 200,000-hectare Kutai National Park, both of which have suffered devastating damage over the last three months.

Meanwhile, Reuters reported from Geneva that United Nations officials and fire-fighting experts met behind closed doors yesterday to discuss ways of ending Indonesia's forest fires.

Klaus Topfer, executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) which is chairing the two-day meeting, said that fire fighting experts would draw up recommendations for a donor's meeting today.

Separately, a business delegation from Canadian Bombadier Aerospace told The Jakarta Post yesterday that it was offering the Indonesian government 10 water bombing CL-215 amphibious aircraft for US$75 million.

"It's a specially designed fire fighting aircraft," Tom Appleton, the company president, said of the 10-year-old aircraft. If purchased new, each plane would cost US$25 million.

The state-owned Canadian Export Development Corporation was offering the Indonesian government negotiable long-term credit to purchase the aircraft, Julie Insley, a trade commissioner from the Canadian embassy, said. (aan)