SOME 270 NON-FOREST HOTSPOTS IN SOUTH KALIMANTAN

Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, Aug. 5 (ANTARA) - The number of plantation fire hot spots outside forested areas in South Kalimantan Province on Wednesday reached 270 on Wednesday.

Most of the hotspots were not caused by forest fires but by plantation fires outside forest areas, the head of the forestry service of South Kalimantan, told ANTARA here on Wednesday.

The South Kalimantan forestry service had reminded local farmers not to open new plantations or farming areas by setting bushes on fire, he said.

"Because plantation fires can have a negative impact and those violating the South Kalimantan administration's regulation on fire prevention and the law on the environment can be punished," he said.

South Kalimantan authorities have also instructed provincial disaster mitigation officers to be always on alert during the current El-Nino-induced drought.

Meanwhile, in Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan, haze had forced delays in several flight arrivals at Tjilik Riwut Airport on July 31, 2009.

Several flights by pioneer planes to remote areas served by Aviastar were postponed several times for a half hour or one hour. The haze reduced horizontal visibility at the airport to less than 700 meters and vertical visibility to about 600 feet.

Fires have become more frequent and widespread especially on Sumatra and Kalimantan islands due to human-induced changes in the forest ecosystem.

During the El Nino of 1982-83, fires burned about 3.7 million hectares of forest degraded by commercial logging and agriculture in Kalimantan.

Indonesia has received United States assistance to conduct a fire-fighting exercise and Malaysian aid to organize a course on tackling forest and plantation fires this year.