Juwono gives forest fires top priority

JAKARTA (JP): Only hours after being installed as the new State Minister of Environment, Juwono Sudarsono declared his intention to instill "a sense of crisis" in the public over the threat of widespread forest fires.

Speaking to journalists after taking over the post from Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, Juwono said that forest fires would damage Indonesia's international image if the nation failed to properly handle the recurring problem.

"We will be under international scrutiny for the problems of forest fires and haze... especially when the Commonwealth Games come around this October," Juwono said, referring to the major sporting event which the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur will host later this year. All Commonwealth nations will be in attendance, including England and Australia.

Over the past two months, fires have been raging over almost 80,000 hectares of forest and brush in East Kalimantan. The province borders the Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah on the island of Borneo.

Local people in the province and residents of neighboring Singapore and Malaysia have expressed concern that choking smog, caused by massive fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan last year, will return.

Over 20 million people in Kalimantan and Sumatra were exposed to hazardous haze caused by fires which burned for around nine months last year. The World Wide Fund for Nature said that the haze cost Indonesia over US$900 million in short-term health costs alone.

This year, more than 2,000 East Kalimantan residents have reportedly suffered respiratory ailments caused by haze over the past two months.

Yesterday, head of the East Kalimantan Environmental Impact Management Agency Awang Farouk Ishak told Antara that 76,949.40 hectares of forest have been destroyed by fires this year, causing losses of up to Rp 220,032 billion (US$22 million).

Juwono, who is also Chairman of the Environmental Impact Management Agency (Bapedal), said that to help counter the wide regional and international impact of this year's fires, the country would have to launch an "all-out environmental diplomacy drive".

"We must work hard in order to be able to cope with environmental problems which have a regional and international impact," Juwono, a professor of international politics at the University of Indonesia, said.

He reiterated his intention to instill a sense of urgency in the public over environmental issues, conceding that this would be difficult to achieve. However, he felt that with the country facing financial and environmental crises, the gravity of the situation may soon hit home.

Juwono called on every concerned member of society to help him rouse a sense of urgency, and appealed specifically to his predecessors Sarwono and Emil Salim who were in attendance at the ceremony.

Also present yesterday were over 100 officials from the Ministry of Environment and environmental activists.

In his speech after handing over to Juwono, Sarwono said he was "relieved and proud" that his successor was "a man of learning and integrity".

Also yesterday new ministers took over the jobs from their predecessors in their respective offices. (aan)