Huge areas of East Kalimantan have gone up in flames this year. This part of the island of Borneo was not badly affected by the fires last year. But, while there has been heavy rainfall in other parts of Kalimantan and in Sumatra earlier this year, the weather in East Kalimantan has been dry since early January. By mid-January the German aid funded forest fire monitoring programme (IFFM/GTZ) issued fire danger warnings. NOAA satellite pictures showed the number of fires ("hotspots") increased sharply towards the end of January. The dry season usually lasts from March to July.
Despite the early warnings, the authorities did not enforce preventative measures against timber and plantation companies which continued to clear land by burning. In tinder dry conditions the fires soon got out of control. Local people tried to protect their forests, rattan plantations and other crops using brooms, beaters and water in pesticide sprayers. We have no news about what the timber and plantation companies have been doing to prevent or put out fires. Heavy equipment has been used to clear fire barriers in some places. Fires continue to burn underground in coal deposits and peat soils. In East Kalimantan there was a shortage of water to fight the fires. Due to the year-long drought, rivers have dropped to low levels and some lakes have dried up.
Reports from local newspapers and the IFFM/GTZ centre show how rapidly the fires spread, fanned by strong winds. The fires were worst in the central part of East Kalimantan province, including Kutai National Park, an area of 198,000 ha which is surrounded by logging, plantation and mining concessions.
The total area of East Kalimantan is 21,144,000 ha and around 75% of it was covered with forest. Last year's forest fires only affected about 40,000 ha in the province. Local people continue to burn land to clear their fields for planting as they face severe food shortages and an economic crisis.
Government officials in Jakarta were more concerned with the severe economic crisis, political unrest in major cities and the Presidential Election in March. Given the massive devaluation of the Indonesian rupiah and the country's enormous foreign debt, the authorities were unwilling to spend money on fire fighting. It was a month after the fires flared up before the central government joined ASEAN in asking for international assistance. The focus has been on high-tech solutions such as waterbombing and cloud seeding. These have proved unsuccessful. Given the growing unemployment and rising food prices in Indonesia, a labour intensive approach to fire fighting on the ground might have been a more cost-effective measure. The 1998/9 budget allocation of Rp 18 billion for fire fighting only comes into effect from April 1st.
There have also been fires in Sumatra, but there has been very little information from there. The EU-funded fire monitoring and prevention programme in Palembang does not seem to adopt such a high profile as the IFFM/GTZ centre in Samarinda - for example it has no web site.
Donations should be sent to TABANASBRI, BRI Samarinda branch Account No 33-03-5487-5 in the name of Tekla Tirah Lirah or send by post to Lembaga Bina Benua Puti Jaji, Jl Argamulya Dalam Gg IV/34 RT IX Samarinda 75123, E. Kalimantan, Indonesia tel/fax +62 541 35787 email benua@smd.mega.net.id 21st February - Worst haze in Sumatra is in Riau. Nearby Singapore is affected. Government is concealing extend of fires in E. Kalimantan. Samarinda's airport has been closed 17 days this month. (Guardian)
21st February
- Meteorological Service in Singapore shows 900 hotspots in E. Kalimantan, compared with 600 the previous week. Rains dousing fires in Sumatra (ST)
22nd February
- Authorities in Brunei were forced to move the sultanate's National Day celebrations from an outdoor parade ground to an indoor stadium because of the smoke. (Reuters)
23rd February
- Pollution Standard Index (PSI) in Samarinda has been peaking around 450 every morning for the last month with a 24-hour average of almost 200. A 24 level above 100 is unhealthy according to environmental standards in Singapore (ST).
24th February
- Air quality worsening in Singapore. Dense haze feared by April. Vice-governor of E. Kalimantan summoned 100 timber and oil palm company owners to discuss the crisis and remind them of their responsibility to put out fires on their own lands for the second time in a week (SCMP)..
25th February
- Repeated water-bombing by aircraft and the dropping of fire retardant chemicals had limited the scale of the problem in some of the worst hit areas of E. Kalimantan, a fire-fighting official said. But Ludwig Schnidler of the IFFP/GTZ stated: "The fires have escalated to the extent that makes it impossible or economically impossible to put them out. The only thing that could help now is rain" (AFP)
25th February
- The cost of the damage caused by the "haze" from the 1997 fires in Indonesia to the people of South East Asia is estimated at well over US$1 billion according to a WWF study
26th February
- Environment ministers from the ASEAN nations appealed for international aid to tackle the smoke problem. Canada, France, Germany and the USA had offered aid, but more was needed (IHT) 28th February - Samarinda ran out of running water 3 days ago. River levels have dropped so far that seawater has intruded 60km upstream, polluting public water supplies. Water sellers sell 25l plastic containers of water for Rp500 (SCMP)
1st March
- At least 8,000 people in the villages of Ritam Baru, Long Lees, Long Pejeng and Long Nyelong in Kutai district, East Kalimantan are threatened with hunger after crop failure due to the drought. Water levels in the R. Mahakam are so low basic supplies cannot be brought in by boat. (Surya)
2nd March
- Environment minister Sarwono says plantation companies must accept responsibility since over 50% of fires in East Kalimantan occurred on their concessions (Kompas) 3rd March - Dr Alikodra, lecturer in forest conservation and Assistant Minister at the Environment Ministry says burnt forest will take 50 years to recover (Kompas).
3rd March
- Officials in Riau say neighbouring Malaysia is getting worried about forest fires as over two hundred of "hotspots" are reported in the province (Media).
3rd March
- Indonesia is set to import around 5 million tonnes of rice this year - the most since Independence. Drought has cut output, triggering imports from Thailand, Vietnam and Pakistan. (Reuters)
4th March
- Pekanbaru airport in South Sumatra closed by smoke for several hours. Officials are concerned that fires in coastal peat swamps in Riau province will threaten Singapore and Malaysia when the winds change direction in a few weeks. (Reuters)
5th March
- 60 hotspots reported in East Aceh. Fire is spreading towards Gunung Leuser National Park. The authorities blamed shifting cultivators and illegal loggers (Kompas).
5th March
- Fish and shrimp farmers in East Kalimantan have suffered badly in the drought over the last year. Over 5,000 ha of shrimp ponds have dried up since last July with losses of Rp47 billion. Numbers of local fisherpeople have halved to 13,000 (Kompas).
5th March
- 20 orang utans have been saved from forest fires in East Kalimantan by conservation officials and rehabilitation centre staff at Wanariset (Kompas)
6th March - 40 tonnes of rice have been brought in for 1,500 transmigrant families suffering food shortages in East Kalimantan. Local government officials say another 3,500 families on 3 transmigration sites will be threatened with hunger if rains do not come by the end of the month (Kompas).
9th March
- In East Kalimantan, 25 of Kutai's 38 sub-districts along the R. Mahakam are suffering food shortages. The situation in ten of these is serious (Kompas Online).
9th March
- Fires are raging in the Bukit Suharto Forest Park - a reforestation area along the Balikpapan-Samarinda road; the orang utan rehabilitation centre at Wanariset Samboja; the watershed protection forest of the Wein River; and the heart of the Kutai National Park. (Kompas Online).
9th March
- Malaysian authorities have been quick to fine 17 companies for defying Malaysia's zero burning policy. Pollution levels in Miri shot up to 400 last month. Fire damage was limited to 200 hectares due to a specially trained air-borne team. (Asiaweek)
10th March
- Water bombing will be resumed in attempts to put out fires raging in Kutai National Park. The operation will be run from PT Kaltim Prima Coal's airstrip. An earlier cloud seeding mission was not successful in generating rain. (Kompas)
12th March
- The Indonesian Forestry Society (MPI) and timber companies donated 167 tonnes of rice plus other basic supplies to villages in the Kutai district of East Kalimantan which are suffering most from food shortages. A community elder said "This was the first time since the Japanese occupation they had had food shortages due to forest fires. In other drought years we have still been able to eat sago and fruits from the forest". (Kompas Online)
12th March
- Airports in Central Kalimantan opened for the first time in a week after two days of heavy rain cleared the smoke from the fires. Visibility increased to 1000m from 100m, allowing pilgrims to depart for Mecca. (Kompas Online)
14th March
- More than 2,000 residents of E. Kalimantan cities Balikpapan and Samarinda have been suffering from respiratory problems due to smoke from the fires (JP)
17th March
- A major palm oil company, PT London Sumatra was convicted of large-scale illegal burning around the Jempang Lakes area (IFFM).
17th March
- A 1,000 fire fighting force of local people, soldiers and students will start work soon in E. Kalimantan. Costs of wages and a food allowance totalling Rp7,000 per person per day will be met by the Environment Ministry and UNDP. Water bombing of fires in Kutai National Park resumed (Kompas).
17th March
- Hungry farmers are selling their land to oil palm companies to buy rice. Even where they are available, rice and other basic foodstuffs are too expensive for people to buy. Some villages are having to buy in drinking water. NGOs in East Kalimantan appeal for donations. (see p1)
18th March
- Indonesia's forest fires could cost S.E Asia US$5-6 billion in short-term health-care plus losses in industrial production, tourism, timber and plantations, said D. Glover, Director of the Economy and Environment Program for South East Asia (Jakarta Post).
21st March
- Visibility down to 50m in Samarinda - the provincial capital of East Kalimantan (IFFM). 23rd March - Fires in East Kalimantan have affected an area double that of Greater Jakarta. Losses are estimated at Rp2.1 trillion (Rp10,000 = US$1) (Kompas)
25th March
- "Thick haze has been blanketing vast areas of East Kalimantan for weeks. Reports have come in about extreme levels of pollution in the interior. (IFFM)
30th March
- Forest fires in E. Kalimantan have affected nearly 150,000 ha. The authorities have only distributed 20,000 masks. A helicopter company demonstrated the use of a 1 ton water bucket provided by Canadian aid. Local officials hoped central government would soon supply 2 Canada Air planes for fire fighting. (Manuntung)
31st March
- The new Minister of Forestry and Plantations, Sumahadi, is due to visit E. Kalimantan. A local official said fires during the first three months of 1998 had caused as much damage as the total losses from sporadic forest fires in the province over the last 15 years. - The main airport in neighbouring C. Kalimantan has been closed for several days due to smoke (Jakarta Post).