Govt threatens to name slash-and-burn firms

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Transmigration Siswono Yudohusodo echoed yesterday a threat to reveal the names of plantation companies who persisted in employing harmful slash-and-burn methods.

Siswono's remark repeated an earlier warning made by State Minister of Environment Sarwono Kusumaatmadja who alleged that the burning was deliberate.

Siswono said his ministry, in charge of the resettlement of forest squatters, has since 1994 implemented the revelation tactic to discourage slash-and-burn methods by contractors assigned to clear land for transmigration purposes.

He told The Jakarta Post that his ministry introduced the so- called "non-burning method" of clearing land in 1994.

Forest fires and bush fires in the provinces of Central Kalimantan, West Kalimantan, Jambi and Riau have created a thick haze which has lowered air quality and disrupted air travel, not only in parts of Indonesia, but also in Malaysia and Singapore.

Sarwono had earlier said that after at least 100,000 hectares of forest had been destroyed and 20 million people contending with respiratory problems from the smoke, the government was close to declaring the fires as "national disasters."

He lowered his earlier estimate of 300,000 hectares being consumed by forest fires.

While big plantation and logging companies are called to abate the situation, Siswono maintained yesterday that they should not take all the blame.

"Traditional farmers who think this month is the end of the dry season have begun farming by burning bushes and shrubs, which also contributes a lot to the fires," Siswono said after a hearing at the House of Representatives yesterday.

Siswono said there was a need to heighten people's awareness of the problems the fires cause so they would not burn forests to clear land.

He further said that a lack of coordination between government levels and related parties impaired the situation further.

He said the problem had been relatively controlled over the past two years due to better coordination.

"Almost all related parties were on alert then and took precautionary measures," he said.

"This year we seem to have lost it. So from now on, all government levels from the smallest village up to the provincial governors should act -- along with those big companies, contractors, and farmers," Siswono added.

In a related development, Minister of Forestry Djamaludin Suryohadikusumo claimed yesterday that areas burned by plantation companies was larger than that done by timber estate companies.

"These plantation company owners aren't aware of the suffocating conditions their activities cause because they live in Jakarta," he said. (aan)