Zubaidah Nazeer Straits Times 29 Jul 15;
Acting Riau Governor Arsyadjuliandi Rachman yesterday launched the province's first fire-prevention programme in collaboration with local government, police and a major pulp and paper company, in a bid to stem forest fires that cause haze.
The programme, initiated by pulp and paper firm April, involves nine villages on the periphery of its plantation in the town of Kerinci in Pelalawan regency where it operates its mill.
April's strategic fire manager Craig Tribolet said this involves identifying a representative from each village to be a fire crew leader with whom it will coordinate communication and training of villagers and arrange the lending of firefighting tools. April has also trained 70 policemen in basic firefighting.
"We need to move beyond putting out fires to preventing them, because when we put the wet stuff over the red stuff, it is often too late," Mr Tribolet said, referring to dousing of fires.
Mr Arsyadjuliandi, whose province was the epicentre of the worst haze in 16 years in 2013, says such collaboration was crucial to achieve the no-haze goal he pledged last year when he took office. He told The Straits Times on the sidelines of the event: "Frankly, we do not have the resources and we need big companies like April to help push through such programmes and lend us equipment and help with monitoring and training."
The programme reflects the higher level of collaboration happening in this province, with the police and military also roped in to battle the haze. Ironically, yesterday's event took place on a day that saw visibility in Riau drop to 1.5km in its provincial capital Pekanbaru, prompting officials to distribute masks to schoolchildren.
Pekanbaru's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency recorded 148 hot spots across five provinces in Sumatra yesterday - 55 in South Sumatra, 45 in Riau, 35 in Jambi, nine in Bangka Belitung and four in Lampung.
It also comes as Asean ministers met in Indonesia's capital Jakarta to affirm their commitment to battling transboundary haze.
Back in Kerinci town, Mr Tribolet, an Australian firefighter hired to design the fire-prevention programme, said he found most of the residents had no malicious intent in burning land. "They simply have no other alternatives, and it costs next to nothing to clear by burning," he said of the traditional practice.
The villages, within a 3km-radius outside the company's plantation, were selected based on how fire-prone and influential they are.
April conducted dialogues with the villagers and also tapped NGOs. "We need to build networks and relationships with them, and hope the remaining villages could follow," said Mr Tribolet.
Mr Amirul, 30, who goes by one name, owns 2ha of land in Sering village. He said the villagers accepted April's offer to lend them excavators to clear their land, even though it will take up to a month more than simply burning, because there is now a higher level of scrutiny among villagers who are encouraged to report fires.
For his part, Mr Arsyadjuliandi set up a 24-hour fire-prevention post in Pekanbaru to monitor fire updates twice daily and assign officials to fire-prone areas.
Despite such efforts, fires are still common. Along the stretch of road in Kerinci, a large swathe of land was seen smoking, freshly burnt three days ago, residents said.
Haze may force authorities to send students home
Rizal Harahap, The Jakarta Post 28 Jul 15;
Thick haze caused by lingering forest and land fires in Riau province may force local authorities to send students home due to poor air quality.
Based on a report from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency’s (BMKG) Pekanbaru station, thick haze has for the last two days contaminated Pekanbaru and Dumai’s atmosphere, leading to visibility of only 2 to 3 kilometers.
“The air in Pekanbaru and Dumai is not healthy,” station head Sugarin said, adding that the haze was thickest in the morning and evening.
He blamed the haze on forest and land fires in a number of regencies and cities in Riau.
He said the Terra and Aqua satellites on Monday morning detected 25 hotspots. Of them, 12 were detected in Indragiri Hilir, seven in Indragiri Hulu, three in Bengkalis, two in Dumai and one in Pelalawan.
“Of them, 20 were fire spots with 70 percent reliability, indicating that there were already forest and land fires there,” he said.
Responding to the decrease in air quality, the Riau provincial administration distributed 2,000 face masks to people for free.
“We also instructed health agencies in regencies and cities with unhealthy air quality to mobilize all the community health centers in their respective regions to distribute masks to people,” Riau Health Agency head Andra Sjafril said.
The provincial health agency, according to Andra, also issued a warning for schools and parents to protect children from the impacts of haze.
“They are strongly recommended to wear masks while participating in teaching and learning activities,”
he said.
Andra recommended that schools send their students home should the air quality continue to decrease and endanger the health of students.
“If the situation does not get better tomorrow, students must stay home. If the conditions are the
same as today, they may go to school but must put on masks to protect them from the dangers of the haze,” he said.
According to provisional data, 1,022 people have suffered from health problems because of the haze since the beginning of July. Of them, 757 suffered from acute respiratory infection, 160 from skin irritation, 50 from eye irritation, 29 from asthma and 26 from pneumonia.
Andra said the figures had increased over the last few days as the air quality in the region worsened. Most of the sufferers live in regions with numerous hotspots such as Bengkalis, Rokan Hilir, Dumai city and Pekanbaru.
“That’s why we do not tire of reminding people to reduce outdoor activities while the haze is still there,” he said.
Separately, Pekanbaru Regent Firdaus said it was not yet time for him to issue a policy on sending students home, arguing that the haze was still at a tolerable level.
However, he acknowledged the dangers of haze and its impacts on people’s health and children’s intelligence.
“The impacts may not be directly visible but will emerge in 15 to 20 years,” he said.
He therefore called on parents to take good care of their children during the haze. “It’s no use if schools send them home but they are let outside in the haze to play.”
Thick haze blankets Pekanbaru
thejakartapost.com 28 Jul 15;
Several tall buildings in Pekanbaru, Riau province, were blanketed by thick haze on Tuesday morning.
According to Antaranews.com, buildings along Jl. Soebrantas Panam and Jl. Jenderal Sudirman were blanketed in smoke at 7 a.m. with visibility around 1.5 kilometers, with the smoke getting thicker at noon.
The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) in Pekanbaru has reported 148 hotspots spread over five provinces in Sumatra on Tuesday morning: 55 in South Sumatra, 45 in Riau, 35 in Jambi, nine in Bangka Belitung and four in Lampung,
“The hotspots have developed in ten regencies in Riau,” said Head of BMKG Pekanbaru Sugarin as quoted by Antara news agency.
The thick haze, which was caused by forest fires in Pekanbaru, affected students' first day of school on Monday. To reduce its effect, the Riau Public Health office distributed medical masks to the students. (edn)(++++)
