JAKARTA, Aug. 30 (Xinhuanet) -- Forest fires and hot spots were spreading at an alarming rate across the Indonesian island of Kalimantan, at a rate of over 100 a day over the last week, an Indonesian official said.

    "The latest report on Saturday from our staff in west, central and east Kalimantan says that the hot spots have reached 400 whileon Thursday and Friday hot spots were only 200 and 300 respectively," Deputy Forestry Minister for Ecosystem Maintenance Sudariyono was quoted Monday by The Jakarta Post as saying.

    He said that the quick spread of fires was caused by strong winds in some areas, which pushed the fires to the east from West Kalimantan to the forested areas of central Kalimantan and east Kalimantan.

    Local ministry officials together with local plantation and forest agencies had been trying to stem the spread of the fires, said Sudariyono, adding "However, we have not been very successful because we don't have enough personnel to cover such a wide area."

    Sudariyono said the condition could worsen as the fires had hit the peat moss areas in central and east Kalimantan while people inthose areas continued to burn the forest to make way for plantations.

    The worst haze occurred in 1997, and to a lesser extend in 1998 when it enveloped parts of Southeast Asia for months, causing serious health problems and traffic hazards. Enditem¡¡