Poor law enforcement blamed for fires
JAKARTA (JP): Poor law enforcement contributed to the spread of forest fires in the country between 1997 and 1998, a United Nations official said Thursday.
"The law (forest protection) is in place, but the enforcement of the law is nonexistent," Klaus Toepfer, Acting Executive Director of UN Center for Human Settlements (UNCHS-Habitat) said, adding that in the absence of strict law enforcement a rerun of the disastrous forest fires of 1997/1998 could happen.
His warning came on the sidelines of the National Consultation on Indonesian Forest Fires held by the state minister of Housing and Settlement Office in cooperation with UNCHS-Habitat and the UN Development Program (UNDP).
The government named 173 companies suspected of starting land- clearing fires which contributed to the protracted forest fires in 1997/1998, the worst ever to hit the country, but no ban or other heavy punishment were imposed on them.
The 1997/1998 fires affected 9.5 million hectares, with total losses amounting to US$9.3 billion.
Toepfer suggested the government carry out proper monitoring of concessionaires' and plantation owners' activities.
"With technological advancement, such as remote sensing technology, the government could single out the black sheep (companies) that cause forest fires," he added.
He praised the cooperation between Indonesia and its neighboring countries to control forest fires in Kalimantan and Sumatra prior to the Southeast Asian Games in Brunei Darussalam last August.
Another speaker Anne Birgittee Albrectsen, UNDP Resident Representative Ad Interim, said government institutions lacked coordination in implementing forest fire prevention and control measures.
"Coordination difficulties and overlapping authorities have been a hindrance in establishing a comprehensive and well coordinated national forest fire prevention system," she said.
She called for concerted team work between the government institutions and all level of communities, and for a continuous program of awareness building in local communities.
Albrectsen also warned of the possibility of another long drought resulting from the El Nino phenomenon which has changed the dry season cycles.
"This year forest fires were insignificant compared to the ones which occurred in 1997/1998," she said, adding that nature had offered some help by bringing rain to put out the fire.
She said that the rain had prevented the spread of the fires.
Since the economic crisis, most of the fires were started by small scale farmers and plantation owners, she added.
Earlier this year, it was reported that hot spots had spread to forest and plantation areas in all 12 provinces of Sumatra and Kalimantan. Most of the fires have died down recently due to rainfall in the area. (02)