Two firms blamed for forest fires

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Forestry Djamaludin Suryohadikusumo accused two companies yesterday of starting recent forest fires in East Kalimantan.

"But I can't name the alleged culprits for the time being. I will announce them after I receive confirmation from the companies and match satellite images with my timber and plantation maps. I don't want the government to charge the wrong firms," he said.

The two companies violated a government ban on burning to clear land, he added.

Djamaludin said satellite imaging from the U.S National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration last week showed that some of the 90 hot spots visible in the province were located in these companies' areas.

Fresh fires are raging along the Balikpapan-Samarinda highway area. They have passed through Bukit Soeharto reserve forest and along Bontang-Sangatta highway and burned 1,400 hectares of Kutai National Park.

He said fires along the Balikpapan-Samarinda highway were also started by nomadic farmers wanting to open new areas for cultivation.

Last year, fires razed more than 165,000 hectares of forest, more than 125,000 hectares of industrial and protected forest and more than 40,000 hectares of brush and land, causing estimated losses of Rp 132 billion (US$13.2 million).

There were fires in Central Kalimantan, West Kalimantan and Sumatra's Riau and Jambi provinces. Fires also destroyed a large area of forest in Irian Jaya and Java.

Late last year the government revoked 176 wood-use permits -- owned by timber estates and plantation companies -- after they failed to fulfill a 15-day government order to present a complete report disproving allegations that they had burned to clear land.

The government then reinstated the permits of 45 of the companies after they proved they were innocent.

Meanwhile, the East Kalimantan provincial natural disaster management board has declared the province "on full alert" due to the fires. (gis)