UN not optimistic over forest fire situation
UN not optimistic over forest fire situation
JAKARTA (JP): The United Nations is not optimistic that its
contributions to help fight forest fires in East Kalimantan will
bring the situation under control, a senior visiting UN official
said here yesterday.
"We are not optimistic, not at all. We are very realistic, but
we believe that it is a must to prove that the UN is concerned
and wants the best answer to the problem," said executive
director of the Nairobi-based United Nations Environment Program
(UNEP) Klaus Topfer.
The UN has decided to coordinate the efforts of its various
agencies such as the UN Development Program, the Food and
Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization in the
fight against the fires and their consequences.
A UN disaster response team has been on the ground in the
province assessing the scale of the emergency and meetings on the
forest fires are due to be held in Geneva on April 20 and April
21.
Topfer said fires raging in the province were catastrophic
with huge global implications.
He described the impact of the razed 155,000 hectares of
forest this year as a "real catastrophe... a disaster with
enormous economic repercussions".
"It's not a national or a regional problem, it is a problem of
global concern," he added.
The latest satellite images of the province show that the
fires are continuing to multiply and spread.
Topfer said that if the fires could not be extinguished, then
efforts must concentrate on ensuring they did not spread further.
Different factors, both natural and human, have been blamed
for the fires and their intensity. The two most often cited are
the prolonged dry season due to the El Nino weather phenomenon
and the deliberate burning of forests by timber concessionaires.
Legal action
Topfer, who held talks with President Soeharto on Thursday,
said strong legal action should be taken against people "who are
directly linked to the fires".
"This was not only my idea but this was also mentioned by the
environment minister (Juwono Sudarsono) and it was even mentioned
by the President himself," Topfer said.
He added that strong monitoring and legal control, combined
with education, would be key in preventing the problem from
reoccurring in the future.
Much of Indonesia has been suffering from drought since mid-
1997, causing widespread crop damage and leaving forests
dangerously dry.
East Kalimantan has seen little rain since December.
Environmentalists say underground peat and coal seams could
smolder for months.
The latest fires have raised fears of a repeat of last year's
devastating Southeast Asian haze, which saw much of the region
blanketed by choking smog, causing widespread health problems and
disrupting transportation systems.
Topfer said last year's fires generated carbon dioxide
emissions close to that produced by industrialized Europe. The
fires had also threatened the home of 10 percent to 12 percent of
the world's biodiversity.
Government officials have said that most of the fires were
deliberately lit by farmers or by timber and plantation companies
in order to clear land.
Juwono said Thursday that timber estates were responsible for
about 65 percent of the fires now burning in East Kalimantan.
Critics complain that Indonesia has done little to punish
those responsible for starting the fires, including some big
companies with close government links.
Topfer was due to leave Jakarta later yesterday for Brunei
where he will take part in a two-day regional meeting of
environment ministers starting today. (byg)