Yudo Dahono Jakarta Globe 14 Mar 14;
Jakarta. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono aired his frustration over the Riau administration’s unsuccessful attempts to get the province’s annual forest fires under control in a flurry of tweets posted to his official Twitter account.
“I understand the restlessness and anger of some of the people over the smoke and fire happening in Riau again. *SBY*” Yudhoyono tweeted on Wednesday night.
The president criticized the local administration of failing to stop illegal land clearing on Wednesday as the haze blanketing Riau province worsened this week, spreading as far as Bukittingi, West Sumatra, where visibility dropped to 300 meters. This year’s haze, which previously showed signs of ending without a significant impact on the region, returned earlier this month as forest fires spread.
On Thursday, most of Riau and West Sumatra reported significant levels of haze, with nearly 50,000 suffering respiratory distress in Pekanbaru and the surrounding areas, according to reports by BBC Indonesia. The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) reported some 183 hotspots after viewing satellite images, the BBC reported.
The BNPB plans to do additional water drops from helicopters on Friday in the latest effort to douse the flames. The agency is also working with the Indonesian Air Force to conduct cloud seeding above the heaviest hit areas, according to reports in the local news portal Jaringnews.com.
“We are prepared to cloud seed tomorrow,” Syamsul Maarif, of the BNPB, told Jaringnews.com on Thursday. “We’re planning to seed [the area] to reduce the intensity of the haze.”
Police have charged 40 people with setting fire to forest and scrubland as of Friday, according to the Indonesian news portal Tempo.co. One company, Nasional Sagu Prima, was also charged with the fires after officers reportedly discovered fires on 21 thousands hectares of land owned by the plantation company, according to the local news portal Riau Terkini.
The company, a subsidiary of Sampoerna Agro, was implicated in the haze earlier this week. Police are now investigating a dozen other companies over hotspots seen inside their concessions.
Those caught setting fires should face harsh penalties, Syamsul said.
“It is a national crime, many people are affected by the [poor] conditions,” he said. “The state will punish the perpetrators straight away.”
If local officials in Riau fail to get the burning under control, the president will oversee the mitigation efforts himself, Yudhoyono tweeted.
“If in the next 1-2 days the Riau Administration and the ministers can’t handle it, I will take over the leadership and mitigation. *SBY*” he wrote.
Government prepares water bombs to mitigate Riau haze
Antara 13 Mar 14;
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The government will drop water bombs in several hotspots to mitigate haze from land fires in the Riau Province on Friday.
"We will deploy Hercules C-130 from Halim Perdana Kusuma Air Base to drop water bombs in several hotspots in Riau," the Chief of Information of National Disaster Mitigation Agency, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, said here on Thursday.
The haze had spread to another city outside the Riau Province, Padang City in West Sumatra Province, and disrupted several flight schedules.
"The visibility range in the Sultan Syarif Kasim II of Pekanbaru City decreased from 500 meters on the morning to 300 meters in the afternoon," he said.
The haze also affected the air quality in Pekanbaru, which caused respiratory diseases.
"The people who suffered from respiratory diseases had increased. The preliminary report from the local health sub-official noted that at least 49,591 people suffered from these illnesses, due to haze," Sutopo said.
Sutopo added that the thick haze also affected the operation of weather modification and water bombing efforts.
"The government effort to mitigate the hotspots by dropping water bombs was hampered as the haze affected the visibility range of the airplane," he added.
He said the government hoped the haze would decrease so that the water bombing flight can be operated.
The haze disaster in the Riau Province had affected the activities and health of 37,500 people in the last six weeks, causing them to suffer from respiratory infections.
There are tens of flight schedules from and bound for Pekanbaru that have been delayed or canceled due to haze.
The Riau province had suffered a loss estimated at Rp10 trillion due to haze from forest and plantation fires.
Riau provincial administration had declared a state of emergency, following the expanding forest and plantation fires, mostly set deliberately to clear land for new plantations. (*)
Editor: Heru
Haze halts flights in Sumatra, 3 men nabbed
The Jakarta Post 14 Mar 14;
Thick haze has disrupted flights in Sumatra due to a lack of visibility.
Several flights were canceled on Thursday at Minangkabau International Airport (BIM) in Ketaping, Padang, West Sumatra.
The general manager for state-run airport management firm PT Angkasa Pura II, Rian Hadihito, said three Citilink flights had been canceled as visibility at BIM dropped to 700 meters, while Garuda Indonesia delayed a flight from Jakarta to BIM.
“Flights early in the morning landed and departed as normal, but they were disrupted from 9 a.m. local time as visibility went down to 700 meters. At 2:20 p.m., the flight schedule returned to normal as visibility increased to 1,000 meters,” Rian told The Jakarta Post.
Besides Minangkabau airport, all flight arrivals and departures at Sultan Syarif Kasim II International Airport in Pekanbaru, Riau, were canceled, Antara reported on Thursday
Separately, Transportation Minister EE Mangindaan confirmed the cancelation of the flights, which included both domestic and international routes, due to the lack of visibility because of the haze.
“We won’t jeopardize people’s safety,” he said on the sidelines of an event at the Vice Presidential Office on Thursday, adding that he had urged local administrations to provide travel alternatives for the public.
Mangindaan added that the government would continue to ground flights if the haze posed a threat to safety.
The West Sumatra administration has issued an emergency haze alert due to the continuing density of the haze originating from neighboring Riau province.
At least eight of the 19 cities and regencies in West Sumatra have been affected by the haze, which has restricted visibility to less than 800 meters.
West Sumatra Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) head Yazid Fadli said the emergency alert, which the administration issued on Wednesday, would remain in place until further notice.
“We have told each city and regency to set up emergency response posts, distribute masks, monitor air quality every day and instruct schools to close if conditions become a health hazard,” Yazid said.
He added that the BPBD had run out of masks, while all those sold privately had sold out. The BPBD is currently getting more supplies, but a lot of parties need to be involved in replenishing the masks.
“[West Sumatra] Governor Irwan Prayitno has verbally complained to the Riau governor and is due to send him a formal letter,” he said.
Meanwhile, the police in Jambi are holding three people on suspicion of setting fires in the People’s Forest Park (Tahura), located in Muaro Jambi regency. They are currently being detained at Jambi Police headquarters.
Jambi Police chief spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Almansyah said the three suspects had been identified as Nofri, 39, a heavy vehicle operator from Kota Baru, Jambi city; Harjo Tamin, 63, a farmer, also from Kota Baru; and Sutrisno, 30, a farmer from Muara Sabak.
Almansyah said the three men had been arrested at the park on Tuesday by a joint team comprising personnel from the Jambi Police, Muaro Jambi Police and the local Forestry Agency. Police seized evidence in the form of an excavator and chain saws.
“The three men were apprehended in Tanjung village, Kumpeh Ilir district, Muaro Jambi, as they were clearing a 12-hectare plot within the Muarojambi Tahura,” Almansyah said on Wednesday.
The suspects allegedly felled trees with the chain saws and later burned them, while the heavy machinery was used to dig trenches.
Ina Parlina contributed from Jakarta
Chevron to relocate employee families affected by haze
The Jakarta Post 13 Mar 14;
PT Chevron Pacific Indonesia (CPI), the local subsidiary of US-based oil company Chevron, plans to relocate the families of its employees from areas affected by air pollution from land fires, to avoid negative health effects.
“Chevron plans to relocate those who seem to be at high risk of developing haze-related problems -- such as newborns, pregnant women, children under five years old and people with a history of lung or heart disease -- and have recommendations from the Chevron Medical team,” said Chevron Riau communications manager Tiva Permata on Thursday, as quoted by Antara news agency.
She further said the employees’ families could evacuate to guesthouses at Camp Rumbai, provided by Chevron, or could stay with other families living in locations with better air quality.
Tiva said that affected employees as well as other Chevron employees who were not included on the recommendation list from the medical team could leave on furlough with approval from their superiors.
Air quality in several areas of Riau, such as Bangko, Dumai, Duri and Rumbai, has worsened due to pollution caused by thick haze from land fires in the province.
Tiva said Chevron had initiated joint measures with the local administration to control the situation by -- among others things -- dispatching fire brigades to land-burning locations near its operating areas.
Chevron has also distributed masks and information on air quality to residents in need.
Internally, Tiva said, Chevron had taken all measures necessary to guarantee the safety and the health of its employees and their families.
“Chevron has distributed respirators to all employees and their families, informing them to refrain from activities outside their homes and to close ventilation in their houses to avoid smoke, and to prepare relocation plans as well,” said Tiva. (yln/ebf)
