Pollution plagues Asia
Fires in Indonesia lead to smoggy cities
JAMBI, Indonesia (AP) - The
smoke is so thick it stings the eyes
and burns the throat, making the
simple act of breathing a chore.
It’s impossible to see beyond 50
feet and the sun seems to have dis
appeared.
’Across Southeast Asia, people
are struggling to cope with an
unprecedented ecological disaster
caused by hundreds of forest fires
in Indonesia.
The fires - many of them
deliberately set as a cheap way of
clearing land - have been burning
for months, creating a cloud of
smoke that covers an area more
than half the size of the continen
tal United States.
Known as “the haze,” it has
made life miserable for millions
of people, not only in Indonesia
but also in Malaysia, Brunei,
Singapore, the Philippines and
Thailand, where it has sent air pol
lution levels soaring.
The high-rise office buildings
of Malaysia’s capital, Kuala
Lumpur, are barely visible. Some
beach resorts in southern Thailand
are blanketed. Airports across the
region have been closed. Many
schools have been shut down.
But nowhere is the smoke
worse than in this town of 300,000
on the Indonesian island of
Sumatra.
Jambi, 370 miles northeast of
the Indonesian capital of Jakarta,
is surrounded by a fire that has
crept to within a few miles of the
city. The forest undergrowth is
alive with flames and with every
hot, dry gust of wind, the sparks
swirl high into the trees.
In town, long lines of coughing
patients wait outside doctors’
clinics. Hospital wards are full.
“I take cough medicine and
wear a mask when I’m outside,”
said Roy Pernihutay, an operator
with the local telephone company.
“But I still find it hard to breathe.
My head feels dizzy.”
Smoke detectors have been
switched off to keep them from
rigging constantly. By early after
noon, the daylight is so dim that
drivers must turn on their head
lights.
The scene is the same on the
island of Borneo and in parts of
Java and Sulawesi.
To make matters worse, El
Nino, an abnormal weather pat
tern over the Pacific Ocean, has
brought on the worst drought in
half a century, delaying monsoon
rains that could ease the situation.
Indonesia and Malaysia have
ordered planes to drop salt solu
tion into clouds to induce artifi
cial precipitation. But many air
craft have been grounded by lack
of visibility. Those that do get into
the air have trouble finding the
right sort of clouds to seed.
“Allah will give us rain,” said
one of hundreds of Muslims who
gathered to pray Thursday in
Jambi.
Indonesia’s President Suharto
has apologized to his neighbors,
saying his government is doing its
best to tackle the problem. All
land-clearing has been banned,
and harsh new penalties have been
enacted again against forest burn
ers.
Indonesia has deployed more
than 8,000 firefighters, and 1,200
more have come from Malaysia.
Other nations, including the
United States, Japan, Australia,
have offered assistance.
But some critics aren’t satis
fied.
“The government has reacted
very slowly and must do more,”
said Emmy Halfidi of Walhi, an
Indonesian environmental group.
The greatest toll so far has
been in Irian Jaya, the Indonesian
controlled half of New Guinea,
about 1,250 miles east of Jakarta.
There, the thick smoke has
stopped aircraft from delivering
emergency supplies to remote vil
lages where drought has withered
gardens and dried up wells and
streams.
Officials say at least 271 peo
ple in Irian Jaya have died of
famine and from diseases spread
by contaminated water.
Elsewhere, the haze has been
blamed for two deaths, both in
Indonesia, where 35,000 people
have been treated for smoke
inhalation. Another 16,000 people
have become ill in Malaysia.
In Jambi, health officials have
asked the town’s only internation
al standard hotel to reserve two
floors for dozens of seriously ill
respiratory patients. With its air
conditioning, the hotel has the
best air in town.
“This is a disaster,” said a doc
tor in Jambi. “We are seeing upper
respiratory problems now. But we
are very worried about lower res
piratory problems. There’s the
possibility of lung cancer in the
years to come.”
UNL men protest violence
By Kelly Scott
Staff Reporter
Confronting the issue of sexua
assault is nothing new to Bill)
Apline. But it is something new foi
UNL as Men Speak Out Againsi
Violence begins its mission.
The 10-member group, char
tered this spring, is beginning tc
establish itself at UNL as the firs1
men’s group on campus to activel)
speak out against all types of vio
lence. The University of Nebraska
Lincoln chapter’s first project was
to co-sponsor Sexual Assaul
Awareness Week this week.
The chapter formed as a bridge
between the community chapter o
Men Speak Out Against Violence
campaigned by the Lincoln-Lancastei
Women’s Commission and the UNI
campus, said Apline, the group’s
r,
leader and founder of the chapter.
Apline, who has been closely
involved with the Lincoln-Lancaster
Women’s Commission and the com
munity chapter of the Men Speak
Out Against Violence, wants to keep
close ties to both groups.
He said the group formed to fos
ter communication and to provide a
forum and dialogue among every
. one about sexual assault issues.
“Unfortunately, most violence
related issues are considered
women’s issues,” he said. “That’s
: pretty ridiculous because it lets the
- opposite sex off the hook.”
: Judith Kriss, director of the
■ Women’s Center, said the group’s
, key word was awareness.
; The group provides an opportu
Inity for men to take a stand and to
not just sit back and say there is a
problem, Kriss said.
Co-sponsoring this week’s activ
ities with Sexual Assault Awareness
Week is only the beginning for Men
Speak Out Against Violence. The
group’s other plans are:
■ Increasing membership.
■ Improving communication
between men and women.
■ Establishing resources for
students.
■ Sponsoring activities to
increase
■ Coordinating a conference in
the spring.
The group will be busy this
semester planning specific details
of the conference and other events,
Apline said.
“We can’t dissociate ourselves,”
Apline said. “Everyone needs to be
part of the solution process.”
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