Jakarta – As many as 80,000 villagers face starvation because of raging wildfires that have destroyed a vast forest area in the East Kalimantan province.

The newspaper Bisnis Indonesia reported Saturday that Juwono Sudarsono, minister for environment, said he will visit the region next Wednesday as part of the government's efforts to address the threat.

'The data we received revealed that between 60,000 and 80,000 resident in East Kalimantan are being threatened by starvation,' Sudarsono was quoted as saying.

Seasonal rains have come to the province, on the island of Borneo, but have not totally extinguished wildfires. A monitoring post at the local military said Saturday that 518,257 hectares of crops and forests have been blackened so far.

Besides crops, animals that the local people hunt have also perished in the fires.

Meteorologists say El Nino, an abnormal weather pattern over the Pacific Ocean, has triggered the worst drought in half a century and has delayed monsoon rains.