PRIME MINISTER VISITS FIRE SCENES ON KORCULA

( Editorial: --> 2657 ) KORCULA, Aug 9 (Hina) - Croatian Prime Minister Zlatko Matesa arrived on Korcula on Sunday morning to inspect the scenes of fires which have been burning on the southern Adriatic island for four days. Accompanied by chief fire commander Mladen Jurin and the Croatian Government's crisis committee commander Miljenko Bukovac, Matesa was informed of the latest situation on the fire-front between Prizba, Blato and Smokvice. Fires have burnt more than 1,200 hectares of Korcula island, mostly pine forest, vineyards and olive groves. The situation on the fire scenes in Korcula can be assessed as resolved, that is fire no longer represents a threat to property and people, the Croatian Premier said. "At the moment there are clearing operations on the fire scenes and new power supplies will be established towards Prizba, while a special machine will arrive to do some important cutting. Therefore I believe the situation is under control," Matesa said. He added that the presence of volunteer fire brigades in Blato and on the rest of Korcula had been crucial to preventing damage on a wider scale. More than a thousand people are taking part in efforts to extinguish blazes on Korcula, including 260 professional firefighters as well as volunteer firefighters from across the country, Croatian Army soldiers and locals, assisted by two fire-fighting planes. Following Korcula, Matesa and his associates will visit the nearby island of Lastovo where - according to the latest information from the Croatian Interior Ministry's Fire Operations Centre - there are blazes between the settlements of Uble and Nizno Polje. (Hina) mbr 091300 MET aug 98