U.S. Envoy Pledges Help as Fires Rage
10/14/97
*******************************
RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Headline: U.S. Envoy Pledges Help as Fires Rage
Source: Reuters
Date: 10/14/97
Byline: Lewa Pardomuan
Copyright 1997 by Reuters
JAKARTA, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Forest fires in Indonesia raged
unabated on Tuesday as the United States finalised plans to help
fight the cause of a health-threatening smog that has blanketed
parts of Southeast Asia.
``Wheels are turning now, so I think things are coming
rapidly,'' U.S. ambassador J. Stapleton Roy told Reuters on the
sidelines of a conference on renewable energy.
``We think the problem is continuing and we want to be as
helpful as possible. We've been talking with the Indonesians for
several weeks now about ways to be helpful,'' he said.
``We have found, based on the information available to me,
there have been fluctuations from the beginning. Sometimes the
number of the hotspots goes down, but then they will come up
again,'' he said.
An official with Indonesia's National Space Agency said on
Tuesday that as of October 12, it had recorded a total of 62
hotspots throughout Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi and the main
island of Java, compared with 20 on October 10.
The government's disaster coordinating bureau said on Monday
it had reports of worsening fires on Sumatra island, while fresh
hotspots had appeared in remote eastern areas.
Fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan, on the Indonesian side of
the vast Borneo Island, have produced a choking smog triggering
health alarms in neighbouring countries.
U.S. State Department spokesman James Rubin said in
Washington last week the United States would offer technical
assistance to Indonesia and Malaysia to help tackle the effects
of forest fires, drought and the El Nino weather pattern.
The U.S. aid programme would support efforts by Indonesia
and Malaysia in five areas -- humanitarian relief, fighting the
fires, monitoring air quality, analysing the health effects of
the haze and weather forecasting.
Roy said his country was sending an advance team to work
with Indonesian officials on the details of the aid programme
before two U.S. C-130 military transport planes arrived to help
the fire-fighting efforts.
``We don't want the planes to come and sit here without
having worked out the arrangement in advance,'' he said, adding
that the team had yet to decide where the planes would be
deployed.
The C-130s will carry aerial fire-fighting equipment capable
of holding 3,000 gallons (11,300 litres) of water that can be
released from the air.
The United States is the latest country to try to help
Indonesia fight the fires, which have burned hundreds of
thousands of hectares (acres) of scrub, bush and forest, and set
ablaze vast amounts of peat.
The official Antara news agency reported the Japanese
government had donated 3,000 surgical masks.
Fire-fighters, including more than 1,000 Malaysians who have
joined local troops, forestry workers and volunteers, have had
some success against smaller and localised fires, experts said.
Two Australian water-bombers have been in action since last
week while a number of other nations have offered assistance.
-=-=-
Want to tell us what you think about the ClariNews? Please feel
free to <> .