WITH insurance companies both locally and internationally not willing to cover the paper, pulp and timber plantations for wild fires, SA companies are left to fend for themselves in an effort to curb costs.

International insurance underwriters withdrew from the covering of forest plantations in 2001 as a result of escalating bush fires which were costing them millions of rands.

The few that were willing to cover plantations increased premiums drastically, which companies could not afford.

As a last resort to cover damage, which runs into millions of rands, local companies have initiated what they call an internal self-insurance pool.

But the pool comes in handy only when there is a small fire.

Listed timber group York Timber Organisation (Yorkcor) CE Lance Cooper says even if there was an insurance company willing to cover plantations, the premiums are not worth it.

"The premiums are so high, they are the equivalent of paying off a plantation in three years," Cooper says.

He has called on the government to increase the money that it contributes towards fighting wild fires . The fires have damaged power lines, sugar cane, timber plantations and grazing areas. Thousands of cattle and sheep have been killed as a result of bush fires, leaving farmers devastated.

Paper and pulp companies Sappi and Mondi have also been affected by the fires and are counting the costs of the recent infernos, expected to run into millions of rands.

This also does not bode well for the country as a whole, with the industry warning that this could compound the already acute shortage of timber.

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