Indonesia works to curb forest fires in Kalimantan
SAMARINDA, East Kalimantan (JP): Indonesia is attempting to contain the threat of large forest fires feeding off the coal reserves in Kalimantan.
The Indonesian government is currently escorting officials from neighboring Malaysia and Singapore on an inspection tour of the efforts employed to isolate and manage the coal fires.
The tour follows the signing of an agreement between the three countries last June to establish a joint forest fire management team to contain forest fires, particularly in Sumatra and Kalimantan.
Last year, forest fires in the two provinces covered not only parts of Indonesia, but also Singapore and Malaysia in a thick smog. The smoke caused health problems in the neighboring countries.
The fires reached their peak about this time last year and were fed into late October by the prolonged dry season.
The government has taken steps to prevent a repetition this year, barring forest concessionaires from burning wood chips and urging local farmers to abandon their traditional slash and burn farming practices.
Although there have been no major forest fires this year, officials in Samarinda warn that the huge coal reserves in the forest make fire a serious threat.
The officials from Malaysia and Singapore are currently designing early warning systems to alert them of major forest fires.
Soemarsono, the director general for forest preservation and nature conservation, told his guests that Indonesia has worked out ways of isolating coal fires.
The method, however, isn't effective in detecting and isolating coal fires 300 meters below the surface, Soemarsono said.
The study also involves the Mulawarman University in Samarinda and the Japanese International cooperation Agency and GTZ, a German organization that is providing the technical know-how.
At Bukit Soeharto (Soeharto Hill) near here, there are up to 47 coal fires, only some have been isolated.
Soemarsono said that external factors, such as clear cutting forests, can ignite coal fires. (anr)