Foreign aid pours in to combat fires

Foreign aid pours in to combat fires

JAKARTA (JP): More than a dozen countries have contributed to
efforts to fight the blazing brush and forest fires in Indonesia,
with Australia sending two water bombers and Norway contributing
funds to the effort yesterday.

The Australian water bombers arrived at Halim Perdanakusuma
Airport yesterday where they conducted a test flight before
flying off to Bandar Lampung, Lampung.

Australian ambassador to Jakarta, John McCarthy, said the two
Airtractor AT-802 planes will operate for 30 days in the hot spot
areas.

Australia has pledged A$2 million (Rp 4.8 billion) to help
fight the raging fires in Indonesia.

The relief funds will include emergency medical and
pharmaceutical supplies, fire assessment and management advice.

"We provide one million Australian dollars initially for the
plane, but if (Indonesia) needs more than one million for the
plane, we'll put the money in that too," he said.

At yesterday's water bombing demonstration, McCarthy said 14
Australian firefighters, two pilots and four ground crews from
the South Australian Country Fire Service would run the
operation.

The Airtractor AT-802 is a fixed wing, turbine-powered plane
that can carry 3,000 liters of water which will be dumped from a
height of 15 meters to shower some 7,500 square meters.

The plane is the largest single-engine fire fighting aircraft
in the world. It carries a crew of just one, the pilot.

As the water bomber conducts its operation, a second plane
manned by an Air Attack Supervisor will fly above to direct the
drop.

The planes sent to Indonesia belong to the Australian Maritime
Resources.

The Norwegian Embassy stated here yesterday that its Ministry
of Foreign Affairs had decided to contribute one million
Norwegian kroner (US$140,000) to assist firefighting efforts.

From Kuala Lumpur, the United Nations Development Program
(UNDP) reported that Indonesia had received money, equipment and
expert help to fight its raging forest fires from more than a
dozen countries and aid organizations.

Assistance has come from Australia, Malaysia, Canada, Finland,
France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland,
the United Kingdom and the United States as well as from UN
agencies such as the World Health Organization, the UNDP said as
quoted by DPA.

Brush and forest fires have swept through many parts of
Sumatra and Kalimantan causing severe haze which has enveloped
not only the two large islands, but also Singapore and Malaysia.

The fires have been exacerbated by the long dry season and the
El Nino weather phenomenon.

Government officials said here Monday that "things are
improving", highlighting the favorable wind patterns, sporadic
rain and rigorous firefighting efforts which have helped
alleviate the situation.

Despite the note of optimism, Antara reported that the number
of hot spots in South Sulawesi had increased from 114 points
covering 5,724 hectares to 141 hotspots covering 7,351 hectares
in 19 regencies.

Licenses

Separately, the Ministry of Forestry announced yesterday that
it has revoked another 15 wood-use permits of plantation and
timber companies after they failed to present documents
disproving allegations they started the brush and forest fires.

Director General of Forest Protection and Nature Preservation
Soemarsono said yesterday the ministry has now revoked 166 wood-
use permits.

But he failed to say which companies the additional revoked
permits belonged to.

The ministry last week revoked 151 permits of 29 plantation
and timber estates after failing to meet an Oct. 2 deadline for
submitting evidence to support their innocence.

The government has accused 176 companies of violating strict
laws against the burning of forest to clear land.

Minister of Forestry Djamaludin Suryohadikusumo said Monday
that 96,700 hectares of forest areas have been destroyed,
including 70,000 hectares of productive forests, 15,000 hectares
of timber estates and 26,000 hectares of protected and
conservation forests.

He said the financial loss of timber estates amounted to Rp 45
billion ($11.8 million) given an average value of Rp 3 million
per hectare.

He said that his ministry had taken the necessary steps to
combat the fires, by training 1,410 forest rangers, 97
instructors, 227 would-be instructors and deploying 8,988
firefighters to forestry companies. (08/09)

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