Government Indifference Fuels Forest Fire Disaster
10/9/97
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Headline: Government Indifference Fuels Forest Fire Disaster
Source: Malini Mehra
International Campaigns Officer
Co-ordinator, Sustainable Societies Programme
Friends of the Earth International
PO Box 19199, 1000 GD Amsterdam, Netherlands
tel. +31 20 6221369 fax +31 20 6392181
e-mail: sustsoc@foeint.antenna.nl
www: www.xs4all.nl/~foeint
Date: 10/9/97
MALINI MEHRA, FOEI
PRESS RELEASE ON INDONESIAN FOREST FIRE DISASTER
Amsterdam: 30 September, 1997
Dear Friends,
Please distribute this press release to your national media and
networks - adding a local angle where relevant. We hope to be
putting together an action alert soon.
With many thanks,
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 1st OCTOBER, 1997
GOVERNMENT INDIFFERENCE FUELS INDONESIAN FOREST FIRE DISASTER
Friends of the Earth International today called for immediate
and effective action by the Indonesian government to combat
the continuing forest fire crisis.[1]
Kevin Dunion, Chair of Friends of the Earth International, said:
The Indonesian government's failure to control the timber and
plantation industries and their illegal burning has led to this
massive social, ecological and economic disaster. The impacts of
these fires on climate change will be felt globally, and the
international community must hold the Indonesian government
accountable. The government must act immediately to control the
fires, provide compensation to those affected and enforce its
own laws to bring these unsustainable industries under control.
Widespread forest mismanagement and unsustainable logging over the
past decades has left the forests in an extremely poor state [2] and
prone to fire. No prosecutions have ever been brought against
plantation and timber companies for their widespread use of fire to
clear land, even though it is illegal. Arimbi Heroepoetri of
WALHI/Friends of the Earth Indonesia, said: "The timber industry can
be blamed for these devastating fires -- and not natural disaster or
agricultural practices of indigenous communities as the Indonesian
government alleges."
The fires have caused a dangerous smog over much of Asia, with the
Air Pollution Index reported to be six times the normal level in parts
of Indonesia, and particulate matter more than double the level deemed
safe by Indonesian authorities. More than 40,000 people have been
hospitalized, and there have been 19 recorded deaths. Tens of millions
of people have been affected across the region and the toll is rising.
The Indonesian government has been slow to act in the face of this
global disaster. Although the fires started burning in July, the
government only announced a relief package on 27 September. FoEI Chair
Kevin Dunion called the government's proposed sum for emergency relief
of Rp. 3.1 billion (less than US$800,000) "shamefully inadequate given
the magnitude of the tragedy. The government spends more than a
hundred times this sum to keep powerful pulp, paper and peat barons in
business."[3]
In the absence of an effective government response, WALHI/ FoE
Indonesia has established Emergency Posts in six affected communities.
FoE International has issued an urgent appeal for smoke masks and
donations to enable WALHI/ FoE Indonesia to continue meeting this
immediate and practical need.
Other FoE member groups have also reacted to this crisis. FoE England,
Wales and Northern Ireland has called for a halt to the UK timber
trade with Indonesian companies implicated in the forest fires; FoE
Scotland has called for the Bank of Scotland to suspend loans to the
PT TEL pulp and paper consortium; and FoE Italy will be holding
sit-ins outside Indonesian consulates.
WALHI/ FoE Indonesia and Friends of the Earth International call on
the international community and citizens' organizations to hold the
Indonesian government accountable for the widespread tragedy caused by
the forest fires. The government has for too long flouted the calls of
its people for an end to the corruption, incompetence, indifference
and pure profit-seeking that has characterized the country's forest
management policy.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
ARIMBI HEROEPOETRI, WALHI/FoE INDONESIA
tel: +62-21-7941672 / 7994394
fax: +62-21-794 1673
e-mail: walhi@nusa.or.id
TONY JUNIPER, FoE ENGLAND, WALES AND NORTHERN IRELAND
mobile tel: +44-385-236976
fax: +44-171-490 0881
e-mail: susdev@foe.co.uk
ANN DOHERTY/ MALINI MEHRA, FoEI
tel: +31-20-6221369
fax: +31-20-6392181
e-mail: info@foeint.antenna.nl
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[1] Up to a million hectares of forest are burning in Indonesia
(mainly Kalimantan and Sumatra), releasing 220-290 million tonnes of
CO2 (for reference, this amount is equivalent to 50 percent of the
UK's annual CO2 emissions.) The fire is also threatening over 1
million hectares of peat forest, and an additional 20 million tonnes
of CO2 could be released if just the top ten centimeters of peat were
to burn.
[2] In late 1996, the Indonesian Minister of Forests was reported as
saying that 20 million hectares of forest were in a critical state and
warned that the proportion could increase rapidly.
[3] For example: the Indonesian government subsidizes the aircraft
industry to the tune of Rp. 400 billion (US$102 million) and PT Pulp
& Paper, a plantation consortium, with up to Rp. 250 billion (US$64
million).
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Malini Mehra
International Campaigns Officer
Co-ordinator, Sustainable Societies Programme
Friends of the Earth International
PO Box 19199, 1000 GD Amsterdam, Netherlands
tel. +31 20 6221369 fax +31 20 6392181
e-mail: sustsoc@foeint.antenna.nl
www: www.xs4all.nl/~foeint
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