Subject: UNEP EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR WELCOMES INDONESIAN RAINS BUT STRESSES U
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UNEP News Release
For information only. Not an official record.
UNEP EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR WELCOMES INDONESIAN RAINS
BUT STRESSES UN FOREST FIRE-FIGHTING EFFORTS MUST CONTINUE
NEW YORK/NAIROBI, 28 April 1998 - Mr. Klaus Toepfer, Executive
Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), welcomes
the reports of recent rains in Indonesia's forest-fire ravaged East
Kalimantan province. However, United Nations sources confirm that
the amount of rain has been insufficient to reduce the fires
significantly and has fallen very unevenly throughout the province.
"Of course, rains are most welcome anywhere in Indonesia, as
many parts of the country are battling severe drought", said Mr.
Toepfer. "However, I must stress that the United Nations system's
efforts to mobilize international assistance to fight the
catastrophic fires must continue. We need to act on the basis of a
worst-case scenario -- short rains, return of the drought and a
repetition of last year's disastrous situation."
"Both the national authorities and the international community,
through the United Nations, must stand ready to tackle the further
recurrence of the fires, which could certainly be expected", said
Mr. Toepfer, who has been asked by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to
coordinate the United Nations response to the fires.
UNEP and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs are continuing their follow-up work to last week's expert and
donor meetings in Geneva. In particular, donor countries are being
requested to provide emergency assistance to Indonesia in line with a
$10 million short-term action plan, presented by Mr. Toepfer. The
plan, which would enhance efforts already taking place, covers the
provision of essential equipment and training for local
fire-fighters, the appropriate use of aircraft, operational
management, communications and support to government liaison teams.
The latest report of the United Nations Disaster Assessment
Coordination (UNDAC) mission to Indonesia, which was presented to the
Geneva meetings, estimates that over 250,000 hectares of land in East
Kalimantan have been razed by fires this year, posing local, regional
and global threats to human health and biological diversity.
For more information, please contact: Vladimir Sakharov, Head of
Joint UNEP/OCHA Environment Unit, Disaster Response Branch, OCHA,
Geneva, tel: 41-22-917-1142, fax: 41-22-907-0257; Gertrud Attar, UNEP
Information Officer in Geneva, tel: 41-22-979-9234, fax: 797-3464; or
Jim Sniffen, UNEP Information Officer in New York, tel:
1-212-963-8094, fax: 963-7341, sniffenj@un.org
In Nairobi: Tore J. Brevik, Director UNEP Information and Public
Affairs, tel: 254-2-623292, fax: 623927, tore.brevik@unep.org; or
Robert Bisset, UNEP Media and Communications Officer, tel: 254-
2-623084, fax: 623692, robert.bisset@unep.org, UNEP Web Site:
http://www.unep.orgs.com/CapitolHill/Senate/2908/st-archive/
UNEP News Release 1998/20
--------------------------------------------
Robert G. Bisset
Media and Communications Officer
UNEP, P.O. Box 30552, Nairobi, Kenya
Tel. +254-2-623084, Fax. +254-2-623692
Robert.Bisset@unep.org, http://www.unep.orgs.com/CapitolHill/Senate/2908/st-archive/
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