Forest Minister Offers to Quit over Smoke Pall
10/2/97
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Headline: Forest Minister Offers to Quit over Smoke Pall
Source: National
Date: 10/2/97
Author: LOUISE WILLIAMS, Herald Correspondent in Jakarta and agencies
Indonesia's Forestry Minister, Mr Djamaludin Suryohadikusumo, has
offered to resign over the deadly smoke haze blanketing
south-east Asia, as new fires in Indonesia's east threaten the
tourist island of Bali.
Speaking at the opening of Parliament yesterday, Mr Djamaludin
said he was prepared to take responsibility for the fires and
step down.
New blazes were reported in several areas of Java and on Lombok,
across a narrow strait from Bali, which draws almost a third of
all Indonesia's tourists.
Meteorologists interpreting weather patterns for the Indonesian
Government's fire response centre said strong westerly winds
across much of the country would shift smoke-clouds from Lombok
to Bali. The capital, Jakarta, is likely to be seriously
smoke-affected by fires in central Java within one or two days.
Haze levels in Jakarta increased dramatically yesterday as smoke
from at least three mountain fires moved across the city and the
skyline disappeared beneath the smog.
A major forest fire was raging near tribal settlements in
Malaysia's central Pahang State. Estimates of the area affected
ranged from 200 to 2,000 hectares, far smaller than fires in
neighbouring Indonesia, but efforts to douse the blaze were
hampered by the drought.
Indonesian forest fires affecting up to 800,000 hectares have
generated a thick smoky haze which has blanketed Indonesia,
Malaysia, Singapore and parts of the Philippines and Thailand.
Indonesian officials appealed to villagers not to shoot tigers
and monkeys fleeing fires in national parks around Mount Tumpeng,
Mount Merbabu and Mount Malabar in Java.
The Health Minister, Mr Sujudi, said: "I think the haze has now
reached a dangerous level in terms of breathing difficulty. This
situation is endangering people's health."
Experts at the fire response centre said critical smoke
conditions, with visibility of less than 100 metres, continued to
affect many areas of Sumatra and Kalimantan. Smoke from fires in
Irian Jaya had now moved westwards, causing the closure of the
airport in Ambon.
At least five people have died from respiratory problems linked
to the haze, 236 people perished last week when a Garuda Airbus
crashed in thick smoke, and in Irian Jaya 295 people have died of
starvation and cholera due to the drought. Smoke from forest
fires in Irian Jaya has prevented air drops of emergency supplies
to the hardest-hit mountain villages.
The new fire in the Mount Rinjani national park on the island of
Lombok is particularly worrying for Indonesia's tourist industry
as many tour groups had been redirected to Lombok and Bali as
airports closed in the worst-affected areas of Kalimantan and
Sumatra.
The Antara newsagency said hundreds of hectares of the park were
on fire. Indonesia's eastern islands are more vulnerable than
other parts of the country because the monsoon rains normally
arrive later than in the west. Meteorologists said some rain had
fallen in northern Sumatra and wind patterns were easing
conditions for Singapore and Malaysia, but sufficient rain to
douse the fires was unlikely to fall until late October or
November.
Yesterday was the deadline for 176 companies to prove they had
not deliberately lit forest fires for clearing purposes.
Officials said three companies had already been prosecuted.
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