Govt has yet to draft plan to end forest fires

JAKARTA (JP): While neighboring countries have been complaining about the choking haze caused by Indonesia's forest fires and have called on Indonesia to take action to deal with the problem, the Ministry of Forestry said on Tuesday it had yet to formulate a program to swiftly remedy the situation.

"So far, we don't have a clear blueprint of how to cope with the problem. We will start to prepare it," minister Marzuki Usman told reporters, following a meeting of all the ministry's senior officials from across the country.

He cited the lack of human resources and funds as reasons behind the ministry's failure to anticipate and cope with the problem.

Marzuki said the ministry's officials were too small in number to cover all the forests in the country.

The ministry had also yet to receive some Rp 140 billion (US$12.2 million) in reforestation funds this year to handle forest fires, Marzuki said.

Thick smoke has started to cover several local settlements and cities in neighboring countries, causing worries among many people that the haze that blitzed the region in 1997 could recur. The 1997 haze caused extensive health and traffic damage, an estimated US$9.3 billion in economic losses.

In Thailand, AFP reported, residents in five Thai provinces bordering Malaysia were warned on Tuesday to stay indoors or wear face masks, as a choking haze hung over the south of the country.

An environmental health center in the province of Songkhla said the warning was aimed at people who were already suffering from respiratory conditions such as asthma.

"The situation is not yet at a dangerous stage, but we have advised people not to directly inhale the poisonous fumes and to stay indoors, or if they must go outdoors, to wear masks," said the center's director, Ongart Chanacharnmongkol.

In Malaysia, the green hills surrounding Kuala Lumpur were reduced to murky gray shadows even at the top of the Petronas Towers, the world's tallest building, as a haze hung over the city.

Smoke appeared to thicken over northern Penang state, which is about 200 km (125 miles) across the Straits of Malacca from the island of Sumatra, the location of the fires.

Director general of forest preservation and natural conservation Wahjudi Wardojo said the 1997 haze was caused by land clearing by farmers but the ministry was still analyzing the cause of this year's haze.

He acknowledged, however, that the dry season had caused hot spots -- areas of high temperature indicating the presence of fire -- to significantly increase this month compared to the previous month.

Wahjudi said West Kalimantan currently had 36 hot spots and East Kalimantan had 10, compared to zero in June.

North Sumatra, which last month had only three hot spots, now has 117 hot spots, while Riau, which had no hot spots last month, now has 112 spots.

Meanwhile, West Sumatra, which had no hot spots last month, now has 53 hot spots.

In the West Kalimantan capital of Pontianak, a discussion on Government Regulation No. 44/2001 on the control of environmental destruction took place without the presence of State Minister of the Environment Sony Keraf.

The dialog, which was meant to be a forum to promote the regulation, also involved businessmen running plantations and holding forestry concessions.

The forum did not seem to bring any concrete steps to deal with the current haze that still blanketed the city.

Visibility in areas like Jl. Ahmad Yani, Supadio airport, Kota Baru and Rasau Jaya was only between 20 and 50 meters.

Reports from the airport said on Tuesday that flight schedules were still disrupted. Takeoff and landing schedules were all delayed.

The Meteorological and Geophysics Agency predicted that things would get worse in Pontianak as rain is expected to arrive next week.

In efforts to control the situation, Governor Aspar Aswin has instructed all regents to tightly monitor fires in their respective areas.

The governor has also asked timber companies not to burn their waste. He also threatened to take stern measures against forest concession holders found causing fires. (05/46/sur)