Hundreds of firefighters battle fires in Indonesian Borneo
Pastor Dale Morgan
Hundreds of firefighters battle fires in Indonesian Borneo*
JAKARTA, Aug 31 (AFP) Aug 31, 2006
Up to 200 Indonesian firefighters are battling dozens of fires raging on
the island of Borneo, forestry officials said Thursday as the president
called on police to prosecute fire-starters.
Firefighters in Central Kalimantan, one of the provinces worst hit by
the recent ground and forest fires, said they had enlisted dozens of
police, and civilian volunteers to help extinguish fires burning across
province.
"There are lots of fires -- we can't put them all out," said Ahmad Yani,
one of the firefighting coordinators.
Yani said most of the fires were burning in Pulang Pisau, a district
around 90 kilometres (56 miles) south of the provincial capital
Palangkaraya.
More than 600 hotspots were detected in Central Kalimantan on Wednesday,
said the forestry ministry.
However fires around Palangkaraya had been largely extinguished, said
Yani, ahead of a presidential visit to the region on Thursday.
"Because we have the visit of the president, we have put out most of the
fires in Palangkaraya," Yani said.
During a visit to Kapuas district in Central Kalimantan earlier on
Thursday, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono called on police to
prosecute any landowners starting fires.
"To the police personnel, I ask that legal actions are taken against
those who intentionally cause fires," said Yudhoyono as reported on
Elshinta radio.
The president also said he was concerned about the effects of
Indonesia's annual haze crisis on its neighbours.
"What is saddening is that sometimes it also spreads to our neighbouring
countries and we should not let this to continue to happen," he said.
Burning in Indonesia and some parts of Malaysia to clear land for crops
causes an annual haze that has in the past smothered parts of Malaysia,
Singapore and Thailand as well as Indonesia itself.
The Indonesian government has outlawed land clearing by fire but weak
enforcement means the ban is largely ignored.