Forest fires

Forest fires

I would like to refer to 'Haze from forest fires blankets areas
in Riau', page 2, Feb. 16, 1998.

I read The Jakarta Post every day because it is one of the
most interesting and most straightforward newspapers of
Indonesia. I particularly appreciate the coverage given to the
problem of forest fires and haze and the activities of the
Integrated Forest Fire Management (IFFM) Project in East
Kalimantan, which is sponsored by the German government through
the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ).

However, I was disappointed to read in the above-mentioned
article the following quote attributed to me: "Ludwig Schindler,
IFFM/GTZ's chief, said the fires in the park were caused by about
400 nomadic farmers in the area, cleaning land for farming."

I have never made such a statement. Regardless of this
statement being false or true, or somewhere in between, I would
like to invite you to gather or reconfirm information or
statements directly with us to avoid being given wrong
information in the future.

LUDWIG SCHINDLER

IFFM/GTZ

Samarinda, East Kalimantan

Note: Thank you for your information. The article was taken
from the Antara news agency.

-- Editor