Activity Name:  Coal seam and peat fire suppression

Country of Implementation: Indonesia

Implementing Institutions:  DOI/Office of Surface Mining

Host Country Counterpart Institutions:  Indonesia Ministry of Mines and Energy

	Estimated Expenditure by Fiscal Year of Implementation
Fiscal Year	1998	1999
Amount	$1,000,000	$462,500

Operating Unit: Funding: ANE/SEA                     Managing: G/ENV/DAA

Objective Number:  498-015 1998/99 SEA-02

Brief Activity Description:  Technical assistance to address peat and coal seam fires.  This assistance was provided to establish a capability for quick action on those fires which present a threat to human health and safety, the environment, other resources, and infrastructure and to assist in establishing a long-term capability within the Ministry of Mines and Energy to respond to coal/peat fires. The activity started quickly under an existing agreement of OEM with the Indonesia Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) and benefited from the technical and managerial expertise of a permanent in-country Project Director from OSM, who was posted in MME.  The activity has accomplished the following:

·           Coal and peat fire reconnaissance was undertaken and comprehensive inventory developed of coal seam fires in the Indonesian Province of East Kalimantan. The Project Director also visited Malaysia to consult on the suppression of peat fires.

·           Coal and peat fire training course were developed with six Indonesian and Malaysian officials and the course was given to 46 students in Jakarta in February 1999.  Included in the course was field work to classify and suppress fires.

 ·          Policy was improved through a Ministerial Decree on October 7, 1999, (Decree No. 1539 K/20/MPE/1999), that established policy regarding coal fire suppression for the Ministry.  The decree clarifies the Ministry’s responsibility to extinguish coal fires, assigns the lead for implementing the program to Kanwil offices (regional offices of the Ministry) and authorizes use of the Coal Royalty Fund to support the activities.

·           Donor coordination has been promoted coordination through consultations, including the Project Director’s presentation of a paper on coal fires in Indonesia and OSM’s project at the at the Second International Symposium on Operationalization of Remote Sensing in Enschede, Netherlands

·           Public-private partnerships have been established between a number of East Kalimantan government agencies, Mulwarman University, research organizations and the Ministry of Mines and Energy.

·           Decentralization has been promoted.  The East Kalimantan Kanwil has taken lead responsibility in for coal fire suppression.  This initial exercise for a regional office of a Ministry assuming lead responsibility for a specific project serves as a useful model for the Ministry as it proceeds with activities that respond to national legislation that mandates the transfer of program responsibilities from Jakarta to regional and local arms of the Ministry and to regional and local government.  

·           Permanent funding has been identified for coal seam fire suppression through the MME Coal Royality program. The Ministry has included a request for Rp24 billion for coal fire suppression in its current budget request, and these funds will likely be obtained from the Royalty account.

·           Program descriptions, activity reports, and assessments have been published, and there has been excellent local and regional press coverage for the activity.