Catastrophic Fires a Planetary Disaster
12/16/97
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Headline: Catastrophic Fires a Planetary Disaster
Source: The Worldwatch Institute
Date: 12/16/97
Author: Curtis Runyan
Copyright 1997: The Worldwatch Institute
Distributed by Los Angeles Times Syndicate, All Rights Reserved
Copyright 1997: Environmental News Network, Inc.
The Worldwatch Report: Indonesia ablaze
Forest fires raged out of control, in Indonesia beginning
in early September, spreading quickly across Borneo and
leaving the whole island "covered in a thick layer of
smoke... Fires also raged in Sumatra and Sulawesi, as well as
the mountain areas of Java, fanned by strong winds and
fueled by a prolonged dry season."
This description of the catastrophic fires in Indonesia from an
article written in 1988 for Inside Indonesia, just as accurately
describes events today as it did nearly a decade ago. But the 1997
fires, which were only the fifth largest of these nearly annual
phenomena in the past two decades, have for the first time forced
the Indonesian government to acknowledge its responsibility for
what environmentalists are calling a planetary disaster.
Scrutinized by the international media for the country's sluggish
response to the disaster, President Suharto himself took the
unprecedented step of apologizing to his country's neighbors for
the smog. By Oct. 15, nearly 1.7 million hectares had burned, more
than a thousand people had died (poor visibility due to the smoke
caused several major accidents and left drought victims without
aid), and more than 20 million had suffered smoke-related
respiratory troubles.
The Indonesian government in early October revoked the logging
licenses of 29 companies (several of them state-owned) for failing
to report on their suspected roles in starting the fires. Those
affected include companies owned by Indonesia's two wealthiest
billionaires, as well as an operation owned by timber baron Bob
Hasan, who as Suharto's golf partner is often referred to as
Indonesia's real forestry minister.
But it is doubtful that removing operation permits will make any
difference next year, when El Nio conditions are expected to
cause dangerous droughts once again. Thirty-seven of the 176
logging firms and palm-oil plantations the government has
investigated have been operating without licenses anyway. "This is
a disaster," said Environment Minister Sarwono Kusumaatmadja.
"Threats of sanctions without real action have proved
ineffective." The government's promise to prosecute those
responsible for the fires now seems unlikely, as the minister of
information has since forbidden the media to tie well-connected
timber firms and plantations to the fires.
Coincidentally, several fires in Kalimatan are located in a
million-hectare expanse of marshland that Suharto personally
designated to be drained and cleared for rice growing and other
cash crops.