The forest fires are back. In East Kalimantan, the worst hit area so far, tens of thousands of hectares are burning out of control. The ongoing economic crisis in Indonesia is making matters worse. Villagers cannot afford the inflated prices of rice and other necessities they now must rely on as they run out of food produced themselves.
Future prospects look bleak.
Almost all this year's rice crop has failed in East Kalimantan and many of the rattan and fruit gardens which normally generate extra income have been consumed by fire. No substantial rains are expected before July or August, meanIng no rice harvest until next February. In early March the local government was reporting that as many as 25 of the 38 subdistricts in Kutai district, East Kalimantan, were experiencing food shortages. Official figures are usually very much on the conservative side. Around the same time Dayak villagers from Kutai, representing 8,000 people went to the vice-governor of East Kalimantan, requesting a free supply of rice to affected villages.