Indonesia: Take firm action against forest fire perpetrators

Antara 25 Jun 13;

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian Forum for Environment (Walhi) has asked the government to take the firmest possible action against forest and land fires perpetrators.

"Police and related ministries should be firm against the environmental crime perpetrators," said the forum`s National Manager of Policy and Legal Defense Executive Muhnur Satyahaprabu in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Munhur made the statement in responding the forest fire in Riau province since the beginning of June which has caused smog that travels to Singapore and part of Malaysia.

According to Munhur the forest arsonists must be brought to justice not only the individual but also the landowner corporations.

Based on Walhi`s data obtained from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) satellite show that in 2006 there were as many as 146 264 hotspots, 37,909 hotspots in 2007, 30,616 hotspots in 2008, 29.463 hotspots in 2009, 9.898 hotspots in 2010, and 11,379 hotspots in 2011.

Whereas up to August 2012 Walhi recorded that there are as many as 5,627 spots scattered in several provinces in Indonesia.

Hotspots distribution area are almost the similar every year which located in the province of Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, Central Borneo and several other provinces in Sumatra and Sulawesi.

Walhi also noted that forest fires in Indonesia cannot be separated from the pattern of land use and forest policy in Indonesia, since the Production Forest Concessions (HPH) regime started and shifted to plantation, industrial forest permits (HTI) and mining sector, Indonesia`s tropical rain forests are degraded into degraded land and secondary forest.

The regularly occurred forest fires in the last one decade was not only because of the changes in ecological chain, but is also influenced by the intentional large-scale plantation businesses in land clearing.

The rising hotspot number also occurred due to the negligence of Pulp and Paper industry in running their production and environmental management.

(A050/O001)

Editor: Jafar M Sidik

Joint team with 1,400 personnel sent to Sumatra to put out fires
Antara 25 Jun 13;

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - A joint team consisting of 1,400 personnel from the Indonesian military, police and the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) left for Sumatra by seven Hercules airplanes to help extinguish plantation and peatland fires.

"The joint team is assigned to put out fires in several areas, such as Bengkalis, Dumai, Pelalawan, Rokan Hilir, Siak, Rokan Hulu and Pekanbaru," BNPB Chief Syamsul Maarif said here on Tuesday when seeing off the team.

He said more than 200 standard-size hot spots were detected across Sumatra.

The central government has planned to send a total of 2,252 personnel to put out the fires in Sumatra. They comprise 600 officers from the Army, 600 from the Marine, 630 from the Special Forces Corps, 320 from the Police's Mobile Brigade, and 102 from the BNPB and the forestry ministry.

Seven Indonesian Air Force's Hercules planes, one C-295 and CN-235 are deployed to help the fire control operation.

(F001/O001)

Editor: Ade Marboen

Indonesia needs no help yet to fight fires
Antara 25 Jun 13;

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia needs no help yet from Singapore or Malaysia to fight forest fires in Riau province, the Head of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), Syamsul Maarif, said here on Tuesday.

"Until now efforts are still being made using our own resources," he said Halim Perdanakusuma air force base.

Moreover no offer has also been made by either Singapore or Malaysia that have so far been affected by smoke from the fires.

Syamsul said fire fighting efforts would last for a month or longer.

"We will carry out the operation for a month and it may be extended.

Alertness has also been done in seven other regions in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

Syamsul said until Tuesday a total of 265 hotspots or fires had been detected in Riau.

He said BNPB would only use data from the Meteorology, Geophysics and Climatology Agency (BMKG) as a reference due to a lot of information about the fires.

"So, we will only use one source of data, which is accountable and accurate (from BMJG) as a reference," he said.(*)

Editor: Heru

Nine already arrested over forest fires
Antara 25 Jun 13;

Pekanbaru, Riau (ANTARA News) - Nine people have been arrested in connection with forest and peat land fires in several places in Riau.

"One suspect was arrested in the case of forest fires in Bengkalis, named Subari (64). He had burned his two-hectare land but the fire later spread to 30 hectares. The affected villagers later reported him," head of the law enforcement task force, Senior Commissioner Sofyan said to Antara here on Tuesday.

The second case, he said, happened in Rokan Hilir involving five people, one of them, Hotman Burba (58), was believed to be the owner of around 60 hectares of land that had burned.

He said Hotman was believed to have cleared his peat land by burning it using gasoline and have also ordered four people namely Katiman, Suhadi, Riza and Bobi to help carry it out.

He said the flames later developed uncontrollably causing 400 hectares others burned.

"The fire has caused severe smoke to make minimally 276 villagers to evacuate," he said.

He said "the five people are still being questioned at the Rokan Hilir Police Resort.

Other fires meanwhile happened in Pelalawan district involving two suspects, Sunmardi and Sukhai, he said.

They had cleared land by burning it using used tires but the flame later spread to burn 53 hectares others.

Sofyan said the fire in Siak district meanwhile involved one suspect, Taufik (20).

He also cleared land by burning and the flame later spread due to strong winds and burned 20 hectares of land belonging to PT Arara Abadi.

"The suspect in Siak was arrested on Monday afternoon. So, totally there are four cases with nine suspects that have uncovered," he said. (*)

Editor: Heru

Haze-related illnesses on the rise in Sumatra as hotspots double
Ken Teh Channel NewsAsia 26 Jun 13;

SINGAPORE: Fires in Sumatra are growing, with the number of hotspots rising to 265 -- a significant jump from the 118 recorded on Saturday. PSI readings in some areas like Dumai have hit a startling 900, and hospitals are trying to cope with a spike in the number of haze-related illnesses.

Haze-related illnesses have doubled in Dumai in the past week -- patients are coming in with asthma and pneumonia, and hospitals are straining to cope with the surge in cases.

Sarno Resopawiro, a patient, said: "I have a lot of trouble breathing when I walk around. And when I try to swallow, my throat really hurts."

Dumai hospital has seen over 300 patients with breathing problems in the past week - that is usually the number they see in an entire month.

H Syaiful, the director of Kota Dumai Hospital, said: "The haze in the past few days has been increasing with an average PSI of 700. If this keeps going on for the next one to two weeks, it will become very hazardous and the number of patients will increase."

Health authorities said the situation is reaching a critical point.

Experts do not know how long the fires and haze will last, and they are issuing an urgent appeal for masks and medical supplies.

Marjoko Santoso, chief of the Dumai Health Authority (DINAS), said: "The situation in Dumai is the worst in 10 years, this is the first time it has reached 900 PSI. It has never happened before and it has reached hazardous levels in the past few days. In the past week, the number of haze patients has doubled."

Dumai city continues to be covered in a thick blanket of choking haze. Visibility has reached an all time low and even the residents, who are used to the annual haze, have started wearing masks.

Even after cloud seeding and water bombing efforts, the situation in Dumai is getting worse, there is also a shortage of masks in the city and people here are hoping and praying that their ordeal will end soon.

- CNA/ac

Severity of haze 'due to 5-year cycle' of dry weather
Joyce Lim And Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja Indonesia Correspondent In Pekanbaru (Riau)
Straits Times 26 Jun 13;

TRAVELLING from one hot spot to another this past week, we kept hearing the same message from Indonesian officials and experts alike: This is the worst haze ever.

It certainly feels that way. The mercury has been rising steadily as more hot spots have been reported.

On Monday, the temperature in Pekanbaru, Riau's provincial capital, hit a record 37 deg C, the highest in 42 years.

There are currently more than 435 hot spots in Sumatra, 265 of which are in Riau.

So why is the haze this year worse than in previous years?

It has to do with the "five-year cycle", according to Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan.

"Every five years, the weather becomes extremely dry. The wind is also much stronger and moves in a circular motion. So, when there is burning, fire spreads very quickly," he explained.

"Due to the dry season, it takes time for firefighters to locate the water sources. By the time water is irrigated to the hot spots, the fire would have spread," he added. "The fire spreads much faster than the firefighters can put it out."

Mr Jaafar Arit, head of Bengkalis' disaster management agency, has a similar assessment, noting that strong and swirling winds have helped to spread the fires.

"The winds are so strong that the burning leaves could be blown up to 500m away, land on another plot of land and spread the fire," he said.

The Straits Times team has visited four hot spots in Dumai city and in the regencies of Bengkalis and Rokan Hilir. A quarter of the hot spots reported in Riau were detected in Rokan Hilir district.

Even though rain has been reported in Dumai and Bengkalis district since cloud-seeding operations began last Saturday, Pekanbaru-based meteorologist Ardhitama does not think the minor downpours, which lasted for just 30 minutes, would have much effect on the burning peatlands.

"Only natural rain that lasts two to three hours across the entire Riau province can clear the haze," he said.

"But there are no cumulus clouds at this time of the year. Hence, cloud-seeding and water- bombing operations would not be fruitful."

Mr Ardhitama thinks the only "solution" is to wait it out until the dry season ends in August.

But not everyone is prepared to be so patient.

The Indonesian Forum for the Environment, one of the country's leading environmental groups, issued a letter yesterday threatening legal action against President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for neglect over the haze.

It also threatened to take similar action against three ministries, three governors and the national police chief.

"These (haze-causing fires) have not just happened now, but repeatedly over the past 15 years. Yet, the response has been slow," Mr Muhnur Satyahaprabu, the group's manager for advocacy policy and legal defence, told The Straits Times.

But hours after Dr Yudhoyono publicly apologised for the haze blanketing Singapore and Malaysia, Jakarta showed fresh signs of urgency in tackling the problem.

At Halim airbase in Jakarta yesterday, the Indonesian leader sent off another 1,400 disaster response officials, soldiers, policemen and civil servants to the affected areas in Riau.

Another 1,600 will head there today, said National Disaster Management Agency chief Syamsul Maarif. This will bring the total number of personnel on the ground to more than 5,300.

Dr Syamsul was also seeking assistance from the Foreign Ministry to deploy additional aircraft for water-bombing operations. These aircraft could be rented from Russia, Canada, Australia or South Korea.

"We are looking, and will rent them as fast as we can," he said.

Additional reporting by Zakir Hussain in Jakarta