Indonesia: Govt Turns to Water Bombers as Riau Fires Continue

Jakarta Globe 2 Mar 14;

A Medan construction worker watches sunset through a smokey haze created by Riau fires on March 1, 2014. (AFP Photo/Sutanta Aditya)

Pekanbaru. The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) on Sunday began using aerial firefighting methods in an effort to quell blazes that continued to burn in 12 Riau subdistricts and municipalities.

“The latest data gathered shows that fires have spread across 7,972 hectares of land,” Riau Haze Emergency Relief Taskforce head Brig. Gen. Prihadi Agus Irianto said in Pekanbaru, the capitol of Riau, on Sunday.

Riau Governor Annas Maamun declared a state of emergency on Wednesday, when 6,000 hectares had burned.

Prihadi said on Sunday that fires were burning in Bengkalis, Dumai, Indragiri Hilir, Indragiri Hulu, Kampar, Kuantan Singingi, the Meranti Islands, Pelalawan, Rokan Hilir and Siak.

Bengkalis and the Meranti Islands were the hardest hit, with 3,513 hectares and 2,648 hectares burning on Sunday, respectively.

Prihadi said ground and air efforts were converging on the Giam Siak Kecil-Bukit Batu biosphere reserve, where fires allegedly lit by careless villagers had burned for weeks.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) said NASA’s Aqua and Terra satellites detected 98 hotspots in Sumatra on Sunday — a drastic drop from the 700 seen on Wednesday.

Dry weather in recent weeks had proven to be an obstacle for firefighters, Prihadi said.

“When we’ve managed to extinguish fires in two spots, for example, two other hotspots appear in another area,” he told state-run Antara News Agency.

Despite concerns that water dropped from above might not snuff sufficiently the underground roots of fires, the BNPB began flying two airtankers on Sunday.

“Today, two airplanes dispatched by the BNPB dropped water bombs from the air because we’re still deprived of rain,” Riau administration spokesman Fahmi Usman said.

He said that four helicopters would soon join the aerial efforts, including two owned by pulp and paper companies.

Fires were spotted in a Jakarta-based Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) concession and in Tesso Nilo National Park in Pelalawan.

“We’re coordinating with Riau’s Natural Resources Conservation Agency [to fight the fires] in Tesso Nilo,” Fahmi told Indonesian news portal republika.co.id.

The Riau fires, started by slash-and-burn agriculture techniques and exacerbated by weather, have burned since early February, destroying great swathes of land, displacing people from their homes, forcing schools to shut down, threatening the respiratory health of thousands, disrupting flights and raising the ire of Singapore, where legislation is under deliberation that could result in harsh penalties for Singapore-listed entities found to have contributed to the haze problem.

North Sumatera hase delays 28 flights
Antara 2 Mar 14;

Medan, N Sumatra (ANTARA News) - A total of 28 flights at Kualanamu Airport, North Sumatra, were delayed on Sunday due to thick smock covering the airport.

"Up to 9 pm on Sunday, a number of flights at Kualanamu airport were delayed. There was also a plane flying from Aceh province which was forced to land in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia," Kualanamu Airport Duty Manager Djamal Amri said here on Sunday night.

He said that the delay of flight departures happened with all flight routes, particularly flights to Pekanbaru, Riau province.

At least 24 flights were delayed for hours at Bakanbarus Sultan Syarif Kasim II (SSK II) Airport due to thick haze blanketing the Riau Provincial city of Pekanbaru on Saturday, an airport official said.

"The longest delay, reaching nine hours, happened with a Lion Air plane from Kuala Namu airport, North Sumatra, to Pekanbarus SSK II airport," Hasnan, the airport duty manager, said here on Saturday.

The Lion Air plane was scheduled to arrive at SSK II airport at 7 am, but due to thick smoke the plane did not land until 4 pm.

He said other flights had an average delay of about three hours.

"Visibility happened to drop to 800 meters because of the smog that covered the airport," he added.

Baiquni, who took over as airport duty manager on Saturday night said, on average, there were 10 scheduled flights that were disrupted every day.

Thus, over the past three weeks about 210 flights were delayed at the SSK II airport in Pekanbaru.

Those flights included domestic and international flights.

The Terra and Aqua satellite has detected 1,046 hotspots from forests, plantations and peatland fires across Sumatra Island, it was reported Saturday morning.

"Of the total number, 963 were found in Riau Province. The number is significantly up from those on the previous day," Sugarin, the head of the Pekanbaru meteorological, climatology and geophysics agency, said here on Saturday.

The NOAA 18 satellite, however, detected only 138 hotspots across Sumatra on Friday, including 70 in Riau province, according to the Riau disaster mitigation office (BPBD).

So far this month, the NOAA 8 satellite revealed 2,208 hotspots on Sumatra Island, including 1,272 in Riau Province.

In Riau, hotspots were found in Bengkalis (312), Pelalawan (198 titik), Dumai (174), Siak (147), Indragiri Hilir (130), Rokan Hilir (110), Meranti (91), Kampar (49), Indragiri Hulu (29), and Kuantan Singingi (16).

Also, Chief of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Syamsul Maarif stated that some 99 percent of forest and plantation fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan were deliberately set.

"There should be sanctions to stop recurrences. Slash-and-burn farming methods exist in Sumatra and Kalimantan, but the most important thing is that they should be controlled," Maarif noted in a statement on Feb. 28.

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Editor: Suryanto