China to Aid Indonesia in Fighting Forest Fires
11/11/97
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Headline: China to Aid Indonesia in Fighting Forest Fires
Source: CNN
Date: 11/11/97
Copyright 1997 Cable News Network, Inc. A Time Warner Company
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
JAKARTA (Nov. 11) XINHUA - The Chinese government will donate
relief goods worth one million RMB (about 120,000 U.S. dollars) to
Indonesia to help the later cope with forest fires which are raging in
seven provinces in the country.
According to an exchange of notes between the Chinese embassy here and
the People's welfare Ministry of Indonesia received by Xinhua today,
the category and amount of the goods may be decided at further
discussions through diplomatic channel.
The Indonesian Forum for Environment said earlier that 1.714 million
hectares of forests have been damaged by fires in the April-September
period this year in the country. The forest fires, which occurred in
Sumatra, Kalimantan, Java and Irian Jaya islands, have caused a total
of 3.15 billion U.S. dollars.
On October 21, the Chinese embassy here also donated 20 million rupiah
(about 5,700 U.S. dollars) to the country to help famine victims in
Irian Jaya province.
Indonesia has been hit by a severe drought since July this year. The
drought has led to the outbreak of malaria, cholera and other diseases
in three remote districts in Irian Jaya since mid August.
According to official sources, more than 500 people have died in Irian
Jaya.