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Greenpeace activists target forestry ministry in Jakarta
07/Oct/2006: In a protest against the government, which failed to curb the forest fires raging in Sumatra and in Indonesian Borneo, Greenpeace activists smoked out the forestry ministry in Jakarta on Thursday.
The forest fires have spread thick smog over much of Southeast Asia, threatening the health of millions of people living in this region. Singapore and Malaysia have been badly affected by the smoke arising from these forest fires.
Reports say that the smoke from the forest fires, which were set off illegally to clear forests in Central Kalimantan (in Indonesian Borneo) and Sumatra, have reached the U.S administered Northern Mariana Islands, 3,600 kilometers away in the western Pacific. The acting governor of Northern Mariana has told reporters that the haze was likely to persist over the island for several days, but it not expected to pose health risks.
Greenpeace has urged the Indonesian government to conduct a full-scale investigation of this issue and to bring the companies, who are responsible for illegally starting these forest fires to clear land for estates and farming, to justice. Greenpeace also wants the Indonesian government to hold these companies liable for the damage caused by the forest fires.
Corruption in Indonesia has prevented the enforcement of many laws that were enacted to prevent illegal clearing of forests for estates and farming.
Greenpeace activists hung a huge banner in front of the forestry ministry, which read ‘Stop Forest Conversion’, during this protest. They also called on the Forestry Minister M.S.Kaban to initiate necessary actions to preserve the remaining Indonesian Forests, rather than being a mute spectator of the conversion of forests in to agricultural and pulp lands.
In a statement, Greenpeace has urged the government to put in place a permanent mechanism to build capacity to assess vulnerability, develop regional climate models and design adaptation strategies, which considers the vulnerability of local community and indigenous species.
K Siva
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