Chances of escaping bad haze are slim

Ministers of affected nations to strengthen efforts to fight the fires
Amresh Gunasingham, Straits Times 20 Aug 09;

THE chances of the region being shrouded in a bad haze this year have gone up a notch.
This is because the El Nino weather pattern, which brings sustained dry weather, will hit harder than expected, it was revealed yesterday at a regional ministerial meeting on the haze.

Previous predictions were for a mild to moderate El Nino, but the weatherman has since revised the forecast to 'moderate to strong'.

The continuing practice by farmers in Sumatra, Kalimantan and Sarawak of setting forests and scrub land ablaze to clear land for planting amid the drought will create a smoky pall.

That this is the period of the south-west monsoon will not help. The prevailing winds will blow the haze into South-east Asia, and each time this has happened in the past decade, the region's economies have suffered, as has the health of its people.

Singapore's Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, ruling out the possibility of 'zero haze' this year, said: 'Let's prepare for the worst, do what we can.'

He was at the 8th meeting of the Sub-Regional Ministerial Steering Committee (MSC) on Transboundary Haze Pollution, attended by representatives from Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the Asean Secretariat.

With El Nino expected to make a stronger stamp in the coming months, the ministers at the meeting agreed to renew efforts to outlaw all open burning in the region and to step up enforcement.

To date, such bans have been called for, but have gone largely unenforced.

Other measures agreed on include suspending permits for prescribed burning activities in fire-prone areas in Indonesia and Malaysia.

Indonesia, an epicentre of raging forest fires for much of the past decade, unveiled a slew of new initiatives at the meeting. Key among them is its ban on open burning, which took effect this month in Kalimantan, and will be extended to other areas.

Malaysia, on its part, said it had stepped up enforcement on companies in Sarawak, where wildfires consuming more than 1,000ha sent the Air Pollutant Index to unhealthy levels last week.

The ministers noted the efforts made in the past three years to raise awareness of the problem and to share technical expertise and equipment. Indonesia's collaborations with Singapore and Malaysia were highlighted as having played a role in cutting the number of hot spots.

Indonesian Environment Minister Rachmat Witoelar was asked during the conference to respond to the controversial comment made recently by his forestry counterpart M.S. Kaban: that Jakarta would intervene in the slash-and-burn activities only if neighbouring nations protest and regional flights are disrupted.

Mr Witoelar said Mr Kaban's remarks were his own opinion and probably made for 'sexy' quotes in the media, but were not reflective of the work done on the ground to douse the fires. But he said results will take time to show, given that the task involved changing the outdated farming techniques of 240 million people.

At the meeting, Dr Yaacob later made a call for a concerted war by the region on the problem.

The 1997 haze, also during a severe El Nino year, wrought more than $9 billion in damage to the region's tourism, transport and farming.

Dr Yaacob said that cost aside, the haze issue was hurting the regional grouping's international credibility in tackling climate change: 'If we are able to tackle this, then we can gain some credibility in our ability to preserve forests as a contribution to climate change.'

The next MSC forum, to be held here in October, at the same time as the 11th Asean Ministerial Meeting on the Environment, will involve the local authorities of MSC countries and international groups sharing strategies against forest fires.

Said Dr Yaacob: 'The urgency is there, and the ministers recognise that if the situation deteriorates as in 2006, it will not be good for the region.'

Mr Afdhal Mahyuddin of the World Wildlife Fund for Nature in Indonesia's Riau, a fire-prone province, said it was now important to walk the talk: 'What is needed is to make things happen in the field. If the government can mobilise all the stakeholders at the district, village and provincial level, then the talks will not be in vain.'

New initiatives launched by Indonesia
Straits Times 20 Aug 09;

INDONESIA announced yesterday that it would take the following measures to curb the practice of slash-and-burn farming:

# Issue warning letters to local government officials and plantations against slash-and-burn farming. This move has been implemented and is expected to gain pace.

# Douse fires with water bombs launched from military planes.

# Beef up firefighting. This now includes mobilising the Forestry Ministry's Forest Fire Prevention Brigade, known as Manggala Agni, in places that are ablaze. This brigade is responsible for disseminating information, improving early-warning systems and fighting forest fires.

# Train 600 oil palm farmers and 240 other villagers and provincial officials in the nine areas supervised by Manggala Agni.

# Launch a pilot project to encourage zero burning in five provinces covering eight districts.

# Revise an environmental management law to give the Environment Ministry powers to take to task companies which start the fires and regional governments which slacken in their efforts to stop the burning.

# Step up enforcement against offenders in the fire-prone provinces of Riau and Kalimantan.

# Supply poor communities with mechanical land-clearing equipment so that they do not practise slash-and-burn agriculture.

# Ban open burning. The ban took effect in central Kalimantan this month and will be extended to other fire-prone areas.

INDONESIAN Forestry Minister M.S. Kaban, in comments made earlier this month, said the haze issue 'was being exaggerated domestically'. He was quoted as having said: 'Why should we care about domestic affairs? Our international image is what's important.'

Asked about this later by The Straits Times, he had said: 'What I said was that this haze issue was being exaggerated domestically. Why are we ourselves making the noise? Even they (Singapore, Malaysia and other neighbours) are keeping quiet.'

Responding to these comments yesterday, Indonesian Environment Minister Rachmat Witoelar (below) said: 'Every official is free to comment...on this. It is his position. If he were to highlight the difference of our opinions, then my opinion and his opinion are two opinions.

'I do not want to enter into a debate with the foreign press. As I say, we will both adhere to the law as it is addressed...

'He is just setting a timeline for his ministry and, in fact, his actions do not reflect what he is saying, as we are, in fact, dousing the fires...

'The Environment Ministry does not put out fires. We prevent and try to institute new measures as well as conduct negotiations with other countries.

'But the ones fighting the fire are Jakarta - I mean his department, and there is more power given to him for doing it.

'Maybe these comments are sexy for you to quote, but they do not really reflect what we are doing. We are fighting the fires.'

ASEAN countries pledge to ban all open-air burning activities
Hoe Yeen Nie, Channel NewsAsia 19 Aug 09;

SINGAPORE: Environment ministers from Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand have agreed to ban all open-air burning activities in a bid to combat the recurrent haze.

Open-air burning activities like slash-and-burn agriculture are the biggest culprits of the region's haze problem.

Permits for burning activities at fire-prone hotspots will also be suspended and ministers have promised a quicker emergency response to fight fires should the need arise.

In addition, Indonesia revealed that it is introducing a law next week that will impose penalties for open-air burning.

These measures were announced at a news conference on Wednesday, following the eighth meeting of the sub-regional ministerial steering committee (MSC) formed in 2006, which was tasked to look into the haze situation in the region.

But while the political will is strong, how it translates into action is another matter.

Indonesia, which has been blamed for causing the pollution, hopes that its new law will give it more teeth to punish offenders. The law is expected to be passed on September 8.

Singapore's Minister for Environment and Water Resources, Yaacob Ibrahim, said: "I appreciate the difficulty that Pak Rachmat has on the ground, because enforcing it (the law) is not easy. But at least there is a movement by the Indonesian government to enforce this, and now that Pak Rahmat's ministry has the power to penalise (offenders), I think that's a very major move."

Indonesia also played down recent comments by its Forestry Minister, M S Kaban, who was earlier reported to have said that the Indonesian government will not take firm action against those setting fires in Sumatra, unless flights are disrupted and protests break out in neighbouring countries.

Indonesian State Minister of Environment, Rachmat Witoelar, said: "These comments are maybe sexy for you to quote, but does not really reflect what we're doing. We are fighting fires."

The ministers also said the measures by the ASEAN MSC had helped to reduce the haze in their own countries.

Thailand's Supat Wangwonwatana, director general of pollution control at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, said southern Thailand had not experienced any haze for the past three years.

Brunei's Environment Minister, Abdullah Baker, summed it up by saying, "If the MSC had not been there, the situation would have been worse."

The ministers noted that the haze situation had improved in recent years as a result of joint efforts, but said it would be impractical to aim for a "zero-haze situation".

They also cautioned that with a stronger El Nino event predicted this year, haze pollution may become worse in the next few months as dryer weather will lead to more hotspots and fires.

- CNA/yt
End to slash-and-burn practice in sight?
Indonesia pledges to introduce tougher laws to combat offenders
Zul Othman, Today Online 20 Aug 09;

THE region's haze problems would be solved if an agreement between environment ministers from Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei and Indonesia to ban all open-air burning activities is put into effect.

For the first time, these ministers have collectively decided that practices like the slash-and-burn agricultural methods used in fire-prone areas in the region must be stopped.

They also agreed to step up enforcement measures and to promote public awareness to control fires.

Announcing this yesterday at a news conference following the 8th meeting of the sub-regional ministerial steering committee (MSC) on Transboundary Haze Pollution, the ministers also noted that the situation has improved.

The commission, formed in 2006, was tasked to look into the haze problem.

However, the ministers also said that it would be impractical to aim for a "zero-haze situation", which might worsen in the coming months.

A strong El Nino event is predicted this year, prolonging the current dry season till October and increasing hotspot activities in fire-prone areas in Sumatra, Kalimantan and Sarawak.

Forest fires occur regularly during the dry season but the situation is made worse by farmers and palm oil plantation firms in Indonesia who start fires to clear their land.

Perhaps with this in mind, Indonesian State Minister of Environment Rachmat Witoelar told reporters that his country is in the process of introducing tougher laws to combat offenders.

The proposals will be tabled to the Indonesian Parliament next week and could be passed as early as next month, he added.

But with its vast territory and millions of farmers, Indonesia would need a longer time to reduce the hotspots and curb the haze pollution. In the last three years, the Indonesian authorities have undertaken preventive efforts such as promoting awareness, as well as training, providing equipment and technical assistance to farmers - all of which have helped bring down the number of fires in the country's hotspots.

Mr Rachmat also downplayed recent comments by Indonesia's Forestry Minister M S Kaban, who reportedly said his government will not take firm action against those starting fires in Sumatra, unless flights are disrupted and protests break out in neighbouring countries.

He added: "These comments are maybe sexy ... to quote, but does not really reflect what we're doing. We are fighting fires."

The plan is definitely a step in the right direction but observers told Today "corruption and resistance by the big companies" might hamper that implementation.

Chief among the hurdles would be the simple issue of cost, said Associate Professor Victor Savage from the department of geography at the National University of Singapore (NUS).

"It would cost only US$5 ($7) to slash and burn plantations while more eco-friendly methods would set these companies back by US$250 per hectare," he noted.

"Given those costs, obviously many would still opt for the cheaper solution. As such, farmers who tend to smaller plots of land need to be taught to look for alternative methods."

Assoc Prof Matthias Roth, who is also from NUS' department of geography, said it is good that the affected countries have come together to discuss the issue and "apparently have come with some agreements and put in place an action plan".

However, he said: "The question really is about the implementation and effectiveness as discussed."

Singapore's Minister for Environment and Water Resources, Mr Yaacob Ibrahim, noted that Indonesia is taking "a very major move" to penalise offenders.

"We must acknowledge the fact that Indonesia is trying to do something to bring down the fires, but as to whether or not their plan of action is on target ... this is best left to Indonesia to review,"

Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei and Thailand have also offered Indonesia assistance in combating outbreaks of fire but no concrete details on fundings or measures have been disclosed.

"Indonesia has expressed gratitude for that and we will wait for Indonesia as and when to mobilise," said Mr Yaacob.