Forest fires have delayed resettlement

JAKARTA (JP): More than 20,000 transmigrant families from densely populated Java have had to delay their departure for three-months due to the forest fires raging across the country, a minister said yesterday.

The delay also means that the government will probably not be able to achieve its target of resettling 65,000 families during the 1997/1998 fiscal year.

"We prioritize their safety because some of the resettlement sites have been razed by the fires," Antara quoted Minister of Transmigration Siswono Yudohusodo as saying.

Siswono said the transmigration program would resume after the rainy season.

The ministry plans to send 20,000 families for this fiscal year to the one million hectares of peat moss land project in Central Kalimantan.

Fires are still razing some parts of the project area.

Peat fires smolder beneath the surface and continue to burn unnoticed even after the surface fire is put out.

Central Kalimantan Governor Warsito Rasman ordered his officials to remain alert as the haze worsened.

As of yesterday, 25 hot spots in the province could still not be put out.

"We must also anticipate possible famine in remote areas," Warsito said. (prb)