Govt accused of inaction on forest fires

Bambang Bider and Edi Patebang, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Pontianak

Environmentalists as well as Malaysia have criticized the government for doing nothing to cope with forest and ground fires that persisted on Friday in Kalimantan and Sumatra, sending choking haze to neighboring countries.

"The government has not taken appropriate steps to deal with the forest fires. Worse still, it blames traditional farmers and loggers for starting the fires," Longgena Ginting, director of the Indonesian Forum of Environment (Walhi) said on Friday.

The government reacts only when the fires occur and its efforts to handle them are very limited and temporary, he added.

He pointed out that based on data as of Aug. 18, 2002, there were 4,000 hot spots in West and Central Kalimantan.

Most of the hot spots were seen in industrial timber estates and plantations belonging to forestry concession holders, he said.

"Today the accumulation of hot spots has reached more than 30,000, causing the smoke over Kalimantan and neighboring countries," he explained.

Walhi blamed the government for its failure to enforce the law against companies who used slash-and-burn methods to clear land.

Many have blamed large forestry companies for starting the fires in a bid to release them of their legal obligation or replanting clearcut areas, and sometimes to collect insurance money.

However, officials of the West Kalimantan forestry and plantation office and the environmental impact management agency (Bapedalda) said the fires were mostly started by local farmers.

Suwardi, head of the meteorology and geophysics office in Pontianak, claimed that the local authorities could not stop local farmers living around Pontianak from burning scrub to clear land.

Although the area was still ablaze, visibility improved in some areas on Friday, but schools remained closed and many people still wore masks or had to go to health clinics for smoke-related ailments.

Commercial flights, which had been disrupted in Pontianak, began to return to normal on Friday as visibility was above 1,000 meters.

The smoke dissipated somewhat following a light rain.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Environment Minister Law Hieng Ding wants to meet with his Indonesian counterpart Nabiel Makarim to discuss the problem.

Makarim was quoted on Thursday by Antara, and said that Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore were upset with Indonesia for ruining the air quality in their countries, but said it was not as serious as 1997.

In 1997 and 1998, choking haze caused by fires here blanketed parts of Southeast Asia for months, causing serious health and traffic problems, disrupting airline schedules and costing those countries an estimated US$9 billion.