Indonesia: Residents on alert as haze strikes again

Severianus Endi and Rizal Harahap The Jakarta Post 7 Feb 14;

While thousands of people in Java are facing an extreme rainy season and flash floods damaging their homes and farms, people in other parts of the country have been choked in thick haze from forest fires.

The haze in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, has prompted the city administration to close kindergartens and elementary schools from Thursday to Saturday.

Pontianak Mayor Sutarmidji has also urged residents not to burn trash, which could add to worsening air pollution.

Pontianak Environmental Agency (BLH) head, Imran, said the intensity of haze on Thursday was higher than Wednesday. The Air Pollution Standard Index (ISPU) showed conditions were between “very unhealthy” and “hazardous” at certain times.

“These are very unhealthy conditions. The ISPU level was above 200 at 11 p.m., while the hazardous level was over 300 between 12:30 a.m. and 2 a.m. During normal conditions the ISPU level is between 0 and 50, and moderate conditions between 50 and 100,” said Imran.

Based on observations by the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) Supadio Pontianak office via satellite images on Feb. 4, hot spots were detected in 97 locations, some of them in peatland areas on the fringe of Pontianak. It has not rained in the area for almost a month.

Pontianak resident Tavib has anticipated the pollution by buying a pack of masks. Every time he leaves home, he always bring the masks, which he has moistened to protect his lungs.

“I’ve learned from the previous haze that hit the city in 2007,” Tavib said.

Haze also caused flight delays on Thursday when 12 flights — six departures and six incoming
flights — were delayed due to poor visibility.

An early flight from Jakarta to Pontianak was rerouted back to Jakarta by the Supadio International Airport authorities due to the dense haze.

State-run airport management firm PT Angkasa Pura II operational division head at the airport, Syarif Usmulyani, Alqadrie confirmed to The Jakarta Post on Thursday that the thick haze in the morning had caused visibility of only 200 meters.

PT Angkasa Pura II was forced to close Supadio airport for more than two hours on Thursday. At 6 a.m. visibility was 200 meters and gradually improved every 30 minutes.

Riau is also facing similar problem as the Pekanbaru BMKG detected 261 hot spots across the province on Thursday. Head of data and information division at the Pekanbaru BMKG, Slamet Riyadi, said most hot spots were seen in the Bengkalis, Pelalawan, Siak and Indragiri Hilir regencies.

“The hot spots have spread to eight of the 12 regencies/cities in Riau. The hot spots are also detected in Rokan Hilir, Indragiri Hulu and Kampar regencies and Pekanbaru city,” Slamet said, adding the dry season would last until mid-March.

Although most areas in the province have been blanketed by smog, it is unlikely the haze will reach neighboring countries at this moment.

“Malaysia and Singapore are still safe [from haze] as the smog is heading southeast. The wind pattern most likely changes around May or June,” he added.

Riau Health Agency head Zainal Arifin said his office had procured 500,000 masks to anticipate a worst-case scenario.

Land and forest fires have for years been a major problem for Riau as smallholders and plantation firms allow slash-and-burn farming methods. In 2013, more than 10,000 residents suffered acute respiratory infections (ARIs) due to haze. The fires have also sparked diplomatic tensions between Indonesia and neighboring countries.

Meanwhile, in Batam, Riau Islands, the prolonged dry season has also caused droughts in a number of areas on the island, causing widespread bush fires.

BMKG Hang Nadim head Philip Mustamu said Batam was categorized as a non-seasonal region, with rain lacking in the months of January and February.

Batam Free Trade Zone Management Agency (BPK FTZ) spokesman and One-Roof Integrated Services (PTSP) director Dwi Djoko Wiwoho said the fire-fighting unit had apparently received many reports of fires near housing areas.

Fadli contributed to the story from Batam.

Hot spots in Riau rise to 261
Rizal Harahap, The Jakarta Post 7 Feb 14;

The number of hot spots in Riau has increased significantly from 78 to 261, according to the latest satellite observation.

Head of Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) information and data Slamet Riyadi said most of the hotspots were spotted in Bengkalis Regency with 127 spots, followed by Pelalawan Regency with 59 spots, Siak with 44 spots and Indragiri Hilir with 25 spots.

He added that a lesser number of hot spots were also seen in Rokan Hilir, Indragiri Hulu, Kampar and Pekanbaru city.

“The hotspots are seen in eight out of 12 regencies in the province,” he said.

He then warned that the number would keep growing as the province had entered its first phase of the dry season. He said this condition would likely last until mid-March.

“After that we will experience some rain closely followed by the second phase of the dry season,” he said.

Despite the entire province being blanketed by hot spots, Slamet said that the haze would not reach neighboring countries like Malaysia and Singapore in the immediate future.

“Malaysia and Singapore will be safe from the haze. The spread of the haze is so far only local,” he said.

Commenting on this, Riau Health Agency head Zainal Arifin said he had prepared a stock of 500,000 masks although there had been no request from regencies/cities hit by the haze.

“To date, everything is still within our reach. However we must be well prepared at all times,” he said.

Extraordinary status declared as forest, land fires rage
Rizal Harahap and Jon Afrizal The Jakarta Post Pekanbaru/Jambi 8 Feb 14;

The regency administration of Meranti Islands, Riau province, has declared the forest and field fires in the region as an extraordinary situation (KLB), with the flames becoming increasingly difficult to control.

Meranti Islands Regent Irwan Nasir said the fires now covered 16 subdistricts in the districts of Rangsang, Rangsang Pesisir, Tasik Putri Puyu and West Tebing Tinggi, burning over 2,000 hectares of forests as well as rubber and sago plantations.

“It’s really severe. We are overwhelmed, no longer capable of handling it,” Irwan said.

He said his administration continued trying to extinguish the fires but had technically already surrendered due to limited equipment, human resources and nature.

He also said he had coordinated with the provincial administration and central government to send help to modify the weather. The fire brigades — including the one deployed by PT National Sago Prima (NSP) — were working at the maximum but the fires continued to spread.

“Our only hope is artificial rain,” Irwan said.

PT NSP spokesperson Setio Budi Utomo said his company would rent a helicopter to water bomb and help extinguish the fires. “We’re really overwhelmed. The 100 firefighters and 20 water sprayers are unable to halt the fires,” he said.

Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) Riau branch executive director Riko Kurniawan blamed the fires on the negligence of PT NSP, a subsidiary of the Sampoerna Agro Group.

He said based on Walhi’s investigation, the fires in the area belonging to PT NSP started with a small fire at K 26 block in Kepau Baru, East Tebing Tinggi on Jan. 31.

Separately, acting Riau Governor Djohermansyah Djohan said his administration had sent 100 personnel with firefighting equipment to help extinguish the fires in Meranti.

He added the provincial administration had declared emergency standby status for haze to intensify the handling of forest and land fires in the region. “We’ve prepared
Rp 10 billion (US$822,000) for disaster mitigation purposes, including for floods and haze,” he said.

Meanwhile in Jambi, haze has covered the city as forest and field fires in neighboring provinces expand.

The local office of the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) reported that visibility on Friday was at only two meters.

There were only two hot spots in Jambi, according to the BMKG, but hundreds of others were seen in the neighboring provinces of Riau, South Sumatra and West Sumatra.

On Thursday, Jambi Deputy Governor Fachrori Umar received the visit of Singaporean consul for Indonesia Mark Low and Singaporean Ministry of Environment representative Tay Romire to discuss handling the haze.

Tay Romire said he was satisfied with the meeting and hoped cooperation between the Singaporean government and Jambi administration could be increased in the future.

Haze has also been thickening in Pontianak City, West Kalimantan. The head of the Supadio Meteorology Station, Bambang Hargiyono, said haze had disturbed flight activities for the last three days.

“Visibility is only 200 meters in the morning while for take-off and landing purposes visibility needs to be 1,000 meters at the minimum,” Bambang said.

West Kalimantan Forestry Agency secretary Lazarus Marpaung said although haze had worsened in Pontianak, no hot spots were found in the city.

He predicted that the haze had come from the 100 hot spots detected in neighboring Kubu Raya regency.