Syofiardi Bachyul Jb and Rizal Harahap, The Jakarta Post 9 Sep 15;
Thick haze produced by land and forest fires has continued to blanket several parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan, forcing local authorities to temporarily shut down schools and prompting airlines to ground their aircraft on safety concerns.
In West Sumatra, the administrations of Payakumbuh municipality, Limapuluh Kota and Dharmasraya regencies, have temporarily shut down all schools from Tuesday until Thursday to prepare for the impact of worsening haze in their respective regions.
“Students were told to take days off, starting today. My daughter, who is a ninth grader, is studying at home,” Payakumbuh resident Yulfian Azrial told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
West Sumatra Health Agency head Rosnini Savitri said almost all regions in the province were covered in haze on Tuesday, with Dharmasraya, Limapuluh Kota and Payakumbuh suffering the most.
“Fortunately, this is not the first time local residents have experienced this [haze]. They are now better prepared to face it and understand the impact of haze on their health,” Rosnini said.
The Jambi municipal administration also sent all students home on Tuesday. The administration’s spokesperson, Abu Bakar, said the measure had to be taken as air quality in the Jambi provincial capital had reached a dangerous level and could put children’s health at risk.
Local authorities in many parts of the country, particularly Sumatra and Kalimantan, have been struggling over the past few months to extinguish massive land and forest fires triggered mainly by this year’s extended dry season.
In Riau, the country’s largest oil-producing region, the province’s health agency reported that 15,234 people had suffered from haze-related illnesses, with the majority of them suffering from acute respiratory infection (ISPA).
Riau Health Agency head Andra Sjafril said on Tuesday that air quality in the province had reached an “unhealthy” level, with visibility in the morning ranging from 100 to 400 meters.
The management of Sultan Syarif Kasim II International (SSK) Airport in Pekanbaru also reported that low visibility in the Riau provincial capital had disrupted 22 flights to and from the airport on Tuesday.
“Sixteen flights were delayed while six others have been canceled,” SSK II general manager Dani Indra Irawan said, as quoted by Antara news agency.
In Central Kalimantan, the provincial transportation agency also reported that, from Aug. 22 to Sept. 6, 50 flights scheduled to leave or arrive in the province had been canceled while 80 others had experienced delays due to the fluctuating intensity of haze in the province.
“Most [flight] cancellations and delays occurred in the morning when visibility was only 700 meters,” the agency’s air transportation division head, M. Kasturi told Antara.
Haze from Sumatra was also reported to have reached neighboring Singapore and Malaysia.
Several areas in western Malaysia, including the capital Kuala Lumpur, recorded unhealthy air quality, the AFP reported on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Singapore’s National Environment Agency (NEA) on Tuesday called on people in the country to take preventive measures to minimize health impacts from the haze, which has been predicted to blanket the city-state until Wednesday.
“Given the air quality forecast for the next 24 hours, healthy people should reduce prolonged or strenuous outdoor physical exertion,” the NEA said in its advisories.
In response to the worsening haze and escalating pressure from the public, the Indonesian government announced on Tuesday that it would freeze or revoke permits of concession holders whose land had been burned.
The Environment and Forestry Ministry, as the coordinator of the newly established haze emergency national task force, said that the government had decided to impose administrative sanctions even before the ministry took the cases to court.
“The Environment and Forestry Ministry decided to take a new approach. While the legal proceedings [of forest fires] continue, decisions need to be made and steps need to be taken regarding the permits of the firms in question,” Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar told a press conference at her office in Jakarta.
During his recent visit to Ogan Komering Ilir regency in South Sumatra, among the regions hit hardest by forest fires, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo instructed the government to revoke the concession permits of palm oil company PT Tempirai Palm Resources.
Hans Nicholas Jong in Jakarta and Jon Afrizal in Jambi contributed to the article
Haze issues to worsen: Indonesia
Rizal Harahap and Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, Jakarta Post AsiaOne 9 Sep 15;
Despite President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's visit to one of locations affected by forest fires, the problems related to the worsening haze in Sumatra and Kalimantan are unlikely to be solved soon because many agencies do not have enough capacity and financial resources to tackle it.
Wawan Berlinson, the head of the fire agency of Palangkaraya, the capital city of Central Kalimantan, admitted on Monday that it had no money to help extinguish the forest fires that had reached an alert situation.
"We don't have a budget for forest fires, except for fires in residential areas. It would take time if we want to ask approval from the City Council for additional funds [for forest fires]," Wawan said.
The province's Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) had proposed to Governor Hadi Prabowo that he increase the alert status to an emergency status and ask the central government to help tackle the haze problem.
BPBD head Brigong Tom Moenandaz said that, if the alert status was increased, the budget and equipment from the central government to douse the fires could be disbursed.
Separately, Kubu Raya Deputy Regent Hermanus admitted that worsening fires in the regency and Pontianak, the capital city of West Kalimantan, were also caused by methods of burning used for land clearing.
"There is still burning taking place for the purpose of clearing land. We asked people not to do it. Police have also threatened to take stern action," Hermanus said.
On his visit to the location of a forest fire in Pulo Keronggan village, Ogan Komering Ilir, South Sumatra on Sunday, Jokowi ordered the National Police chief to take stern action against the perpetrators of forest fires.
The inability of the government to tackle the haze caused hundreds of students, activists and environmentalists in Riau, the biggest source of the forest fires, to stage a rally on Monday demanding the environment and forestry minister and their acting governor be sacked.
"They are not worthy of the positions because they cannot seek solutions on haze. If they refuse to step down, just fire them," the protesters' coordinator Musa Ali Sanda said.
The protesters also gave an ultimatum to the government to get rid of the haze in five days. Otherwise, they would arrive in bigger numbers.
Quoting Article 28H of the 1945 Constitution, Musa said that the government had the obligation to provide the people with a healthy environment.
"We demand the government realise the mandate of the Constitution."
The protesters also engaged in a brawl with public order officers as they tried to prevent them from entering the governor's office compound.
"We are disappointed that the Riau acting governor did not want to have a dialogue with us," Musa said.
Executive director of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment's (Walhi) Riau branch, Riko Kurniawan, said he could not understand why the government did not learn from forest and land fires that had reoccurred over the last 18 years.
He also expressed disappointment that the government's approach had not been more than simply providing trillions of rupiah to extinguish fires.
"It's not the concrete solution that the people have been expecting from the government. Yet, it's what the government has been maintaining for the last 18 years," Riko said.
He said the government had to realise that prevention measures including firmness in policy, law enforcement and peat land protection were much more important than extinguishing fires.
"Hopefully the government will have the wisdom and willingness to look at the root of the problem and not just extinguish fires as if it is an annual project consuming billions of rupiah in funds," said Riko
Riau, South Sumatra, Jambi, Central Kalimantan, South Kalimantan and West Kalimantan have declared haze emergencies following the worsening forest fires, according to the Environment and Forestry Ministry,
The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has allocated Rp 385 billion (US$27 million or S$38 million) to contain the fires through water bombing and artificial precipitation.
For many years, the disaster has been repeated in a similar fashion: in the same provinces and with similar text book measures taken to overcome it amid a barrage of complaints from the people and governments of neighbouring countries.
Lack of equipment, personnel hinders Sumatra fire-fighting
Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja Straits Times AsiaOne 9 Sep 15;
A lack of equipment and firefighters in regions hit by forest and peat fires is hampering operations as thick haze disrupted flights in parts of Sumatra.
Air quality hit hazardous levels yesterday in Pekanbaru and Dumai, both in Riau, Indonesia's second- closest province to Singapore.
The visibility level in Dumai, about 270km north-west of Singapore, was as low as 100m in the early morning. The city's Pinang Kampai airport was closed yesterday and on Monday.
"The haze this year is beginning to resemble that in 2013. Last year, the airport was never closed for two days in a row," Mr Toto Sumartono, operations manager for Pelita Air, told The Straits Times from Dumai. A minimum visibility of 1,000m is required before planes are allowed to land or take off.
In Pekanbaru, the capital of Riau, province visibility fell to 200m in the early morning.
Flights in and out of Jambi were also cancelled on Monday and yesterday.
An official of the local meteorological office warned that the problem will remain until next month, when heavy rain is expected.
"For sure, the whole of September, the weather will be dry. We are expecting very light rain above the eastern part of Jambi in the next two to three days, but that is not enough to help put out fires," Mr Bahar Abdullah told The Straits Times.
Elsewhere in Indonesia, officials on the ground continued to struggle with a shortage of equipment even though Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency has set aside 385 billion rupiah (S$38.5 million) for fire-fighting operations.
The Musi Banyuasin regency in South Sumatra province yesterday appealed to the provincial government for help as it needed to expand the scale of operations to prevent fires from spreading.
"We need them to send in helicopters to do water bombing in our regency. We have exhausted ground operations... Many fires are located in remote areas in the forests," acting regent Beni Hernedi told reporters on MetroTV.
A fire is reported almost every hour in West Kalimantan's Ketapang regency, where the local authorities said they needed more equipment and personnel, Kompas daily reported. The regency too has appealed to the provincial government for assistance.
Yesterday, an Indonesian MP apologised for the haze currently blanketing the region, The Star reported.
Mr Hamdhani Mukhdar Said, who is in charge of the environment and international relations, said he would raise the issue with the Indonesian Parliament and ask for more to be done to deal with the haze.
"I want to apologise to the Malaysian people for the haze. The annual haze is not intentional but due to the drought that affects parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan," he told reporters during a break in the 36th General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly in Kuala Lumpur.
The haze is a result of widespread clearing of forests in Indonesia for oil palm plantations.
Not only does it affect neighbouring countries such as Malaysia and Singapore, but it also makes life miserable for about 22.6 million residents in Sumatra and three million in Kalimantan.
Haze Affects Indonesia Flights, Worsens Air Quality in Singapore
Rieka Rahadiana Bloomberg 8 Sep 15;
Smog from forest fires on Indonesia’s Sumatra island is disrupting flights at a number of local airports and fouling air quality as far away as Singapore and Malaysia.
At least six airlines canceled flights Tuesday from Sultan Thaha Airport in Jambi city, after all flights there were canceled Monday, transport ministry spokesman J.A. Barata said. No flights were operating Tuesday morning at Sultan Syarif Kasim II Airport in Riau province.
The haze, caused by farmers who burn forests to clear their land for agriculture, is an annual occurrence that sends smog wafting northward to Singapore and Malaysia. Those governments have complained to Indonesia, and Singaporean legislators last year passed a law allowing regulators to prosecute companies involved in illegal forest burning.
The smog can send air quality in Singapore and Malaysia into hazardous territory, defined as a reading above 100 on the three-hour Pollutant Standards Index. Tuesday’s PSI reading in Singapore was 86, down from 121 Monday evening and far below the record of 401 set in June 2013.
Flights were operating as normal Tuesday from Singapore’s Changi and Seletar airports.
Visibility Tuesday morning was as little as 300 meters (984 feet) at Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II airport in Palembang in the southern part of Sumatra, and was 500 meters in Riau. Carriers such as PT Garuda Persero TBK, Sriwijaya Air, Lion Air and Citilink have canceled all flights to and from Jambi, and could maintain the cancellations through Thursday, the transport ministry’s Barata said.
The fires are exacerbated by the local dry season. Indonesian authorities warned last week that this year’s haze will be worse than in previous years, the Bernama news agency reported, and could last through end-November.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo visited Sumatra on Sunday to survey the government’s response to the problem. Malaysia’s natural resources minister is due to visit soon to discuss possible solutions with his Indonesian counterpart.
