IPS-English PARAGUAY: Praying for Rain to Douse the Flames
 
Date: Fri, 14 Sep 2007 17:20:09 -0700

 
David Vargas

ASUNCION, Sep 14   (IPS)  - Satellite images show Paraguay's 
territory covered with small red dots. Fires have devastated 
400,000 hectares, and over 15,000 people are homeless. The 
government is being accused of excessive delay in acting on the 
emergency.

In the last three weeks, about 1,700 fires have broken out, 
especially in the north of the country. They have razed populated 
areas, forests, crops and pastures in what is being regarded as 
the worst tragedy of the past decade.

The farmers and ranchers who have lost crops, livestock and their 
homes complain about the slow reaction by the administration of 
Nicanor Duarte, which, in spite of warnings about the 
uncontrollable spread of the fires, did not declare a national 
emergency until Wednesday.

Fires have broken out in different parts of the country, but the 
most critical situation is in the north, in four of the 17 
departments (provinces) of the country: Amambay, Concepción, San 
Pedro and Presidente Hayes.

The government has sent in reinforcements for the fire-fighting 
brigades. Retired General José Kanasawa, the head of the National 
Emergency Secretariat, told IPS that about 1,000 people, 
including soldiers and rescue workers, have gone to the affected 
zones, where roughly the same number of people are already 
working.

”The complexity of the situation is such that it is beyond human 
control. All we can do is contain and resist it, prevent the fire 
from spreading, and pray for rain,” he said.    

The government has asked Argentina, Chile and Venezuela for 
additional help, on top of the assistance being provided since 
last week by Brazil.

The Brazilian authorities, who are facing the same problem in 
areas close to the Paraguayan border, sent four ”water bomber” 
planes, which in the last few days have dropped more than 500,000 
litres of water on the flames.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez promised to send a Russian-built 
Ilyushin 76 plane, with a water bombing capacity of 41,000 litres 
per flight. Its rental costs one million dollars.   

The severe drought in the region complicates the efforts of 
firefighters and soldiers, who also lack proper tools for their 
work. They are using machetes and other agricultural equipment in 
their efforts to control the flames.

Kanasawa said that most of the fires were intentionally set by 
small farmers and ranchers, who customarily use burning to renew 
pastures and clean up wooded fields.

”They didn't take into account the extremely dry environment. The 
fire spread and when it reached the forests it went out of 
control,” he said.

Although the slash-and-burn technique is illegal in Paraguay, it 
is still a common practice in rural areas because of the 
widespread belief that it renews the soil.

A team of agents from the Ministerio Público, headed by 
Attorney-General Rubén Candia, set out to the affected zone to 
investigate complaints about arson.    

The weather forecast for coming weeks offers little in the way of 
hope.

The head of the forecasting division at the Agriculture Ministry, 
Roberto Salinas, told IPS that although drought is normal at this 
time of year, there has been less rain this year than in previous 
years. Rain heavy enough to help put out the fires can only be 
expected in another two to three weeks.

Alberto Soljancic, president of the Rural Association of 
Paraguay, which represents the country's livestock farmers, 
compared the fires with the hurricanes that have been devastating 
Caribbean shores.   

”The consequences are equally catastrophic,” he told IPS. His 
2,000-hectare property in San Pedro was practically consumed by 
fire.

”Unfortunately, we took too long to understand the extent of the 
danger, and we acted too late, as usual,” he said.

Although there are no official estimates, Soljancic calculated 
losses to the productive sector at more than 10 million dollars.

The general secretary of the National Coordinating Committee of 
Campesino (small farmer) Organisations (MCNOC), Luis Aguayo, said 
that they would ask the government for subsidies in order to cope 
with their losses.

”It will take small farmers six months to grow food to support 
their families. In the mean time, they have to survive somehow,” 
Aguayo told IPS.

Hospitals and health centres in the fire zones are crowded with 
patients suffering from respiratory problems and skin and eye 
ailments. The Paraguayan Medical Association recommended 
evacuation of patients with allergies.

The critical zones are some 300 kilometres away from Asunción, 
but even here the effects of the fires can be felt. The city has 
been covered with smoke for days, provoking eye and skin 
irritation among local residents. The international Silvio 
Pettirossi airport has also had to close down on a number of 
occasions.

Several flights were rerouted to Ciudad del Este, 330 kilometres 
from Asunción. Although flight services are returning to normal, 
aviation director Hugo Aquino warned that visibility will remain 
poor ”until the rains come.”

Environmental organisations are concerned about the long-term 
effects of the forest fires.    

”The more than 400,000 hectares of burnt forest are 
irreplaceable,” Danilo Salas of the non-governmental Moisés 
Bertoni Foundation told IPS. 

And unless measures are taken, he warned, people could fall prey 
to malaria, dengue fever, or other diseases.

”We need all of the public and private agencies to coordinate 
preventive and corrective action. It's ridiculous that while the 
country is burning up, country people can still be seen along the 
roads lighting fires. We're not learning from our mistakes,” he 
concluded.


***** + ENVIRONMENT-GREECE: Fires Char a Way of Life 
(http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39074) + 
ENVIRONMENT-PORTUGAL: Summer Heat and Forest Fire Hell - 2006 
(http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=34388)


(END/IPS/LA EN HE DV PR/TRASP-VD-SW/DV/JSP/DM/07)


 
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