Sarwono shocked at Java's forest fires

Sarwono shocked at Java's forest fires

JAKARTA (JP): Five thousand five hundred hectares of the
10,339 hectares of forest destroyed by fire over the past year
were in Central and East Java, State Minister of Environment
Sarwono Kusumaatmadja revealed yesterday.

"It's shocking that most of the forest fires in Indonesia last
year happened on Java," Sarwono said in a review of the
environmental damage caused by fires here yesterday.

He was speaking in his capacity as the chief of the Center for
the Control of Forest and Land Fires. He blamed the high rate of
forest fires on human irresponsibility.

The most extensive forest damage in Java was found around
Baluran in East Java and Mt. Slamet in Central Java.

The other provinces affected were Lampung, Riau, East and West
Nusa Tenggara, and the four provinces in Kalimantan.

In 1995, 6,700 hectares of forest across the country were
destroyed by fire. Areas hit by fires this year include Riau,
Lampung and Jambi, following prolonged dry spells there and the
rapid growth of agribusiness activities, such as the opening of
new land and plantations.

In 1994, drought contributed to the fires that damaged 162,000
hectares of forests. Smoke from the fires disrupted flights at a
number of airports in Riau and Kalimantan, and spread to Malaysia
and Singapore.

"We should learn from past experience. Each region in
Indonesia needs to handle the problem of forest fires in
accordance with its own situation," Sarwono said.

He stressed that as most forest fire in Java were caused by
negligence, such as people throwing smoldering cigarette butts
onto dry wood, the country needed to set up programs to educate
the public about the need to be careful when using fire.

In regions where forest fires were caused by forests being
opened for business activities, programs should target
businessmen, he said.

Sarwono dismissed allegations that the government had become
defensive when speaking about its handling of forest fires.

"The government has never acted defensively," he said. "I've
escorted officials from neighboring countries to forests to show
them how determined we are to tackle forest fires." (swe/aan)