Govt has yet to draft plan to end forest fires

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)