Indonesia: Forest fires in Sumatra will be extinguished in 2 weeks: Disaster mitigation chief

Indonesia has sent more than 1,000 soldiers to South Sumatra to put out ongoing forest fires.
Sujadi Siswo, Channel NewsAsia 11 Sep 15;

JAKARTA: The chief of Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency, Willem Rampangilei, has said the forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan will be extinguished in two weeks. The two-week target has been given to all agencies tasked with fighting the fires.

The Indonesian military sent more than 1,000 soldiers to South Sumatra province on Thursday (Sep 10) to put out ongoing forest fires. The personnel departed from a Jakarta air base on Thursday morning.

This comes after the national disaster mitigation agency sought for more reinforcements to deal with the forest fire situation in Sumatra. A multi-agency task force that includes the police and military has been mobilised.

Thursday's troop deployment is for South Sumatra, which currently has the most number of hotspots compared to the neighbouring province of Jambi, followed by Riau.

The soldiers are being equipped with fire fighting equipment and have been given orders not to leave until the fires have been put out.

The biggest challenge is putting out fires in peatlands, three to five metres underground. Aerial water-bombing will not be as effective as the peatland needs to be flooded with water jets to put out the underground fire. This is where the soldiers will be needed.

More troops could be deployed if the situation calls for it. In 2013, some 3,500 soldiers were deployed in Sumatra to fight the forest fires that led then President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to apologise to Singapore and Malaysia.

The forest fires are happening again this year and weather experts in Indonesia have said the peak of the current dry spell is expected in October.

Indonesian police earlier identified at least 14 hotspots in South Sumatra and authorities said a number of them belong to plantation companies. Some of the burning areas are in the province's national parks.

President Joko Widodo wants plantation companies to be made responsible for any fire occurring in their concessions. But there are difficulties in prosecuting the perpetrators despite knowing who they are, due to the country's complex judicial process.

The smoke has also affected neighbouring Singapore and Malaysia, causing the air quality there to deteriorate to unhealthy levels on some days.

- CNA/rw/ms


BNPB new chief pledges to get rid of haze in two weeks
Rizal Harahap and Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, The Jakarta Post 10 Sep 15;

A day after being appointed the head of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Willem Rampangilei pledged on Wednesday to clear up in two weeks the haze currently blanketing Sumatra.

“In two weeks, that is what we are going to do. We will do our best,” Willem said in his first official visit to Pekanbaru, Riau, after replacing Samsul Ma’arif.

Indicators of success, he said, would include airports in the regions operating normally without disruption from haze, sending students back to school and reducing symptoms of acute respiratory infections (ISPA).

Willem said his visit to Riau was not meant to take over the responsibility of local administrations in combating forest and land fires, arguing what they needed to do was intensify and strengthen what had already been undertaken.

“People have suffered for far too long. The haze escalation is no longer disruptive but has threatened the health of many people,” he told a press conference held at the Riau forest and land fires emergency task force premises at Roesmin Nurjadin Air Base in Pekanbaru.

He said the economic loss caused by the haze could not be dismissed as insignificant. Quoting a 2013 World Bank report, he said that the total financial loss that Riau suffered from the haze amounted to Rp 20 trillion (US$1.4 million).

He said that, after being sworn in as BNPB head and receiving instructions from President Joko Widodo to put an end to the haze in Sumatra and Kalimantan, he stipulated a deadline to finish dealing with the haze within two weeks.

He added he would focus his work on the three provinces of Riau, Jambi and South Sumatra, and that the haze there would be dealt with comprehensively.

Meanwhile in West Sumatra, rain that poured over various areas, including Padang, Padang Pariaman, Bukittinggi and Payakumbuh on Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning helped the haze subside.

“Rain fell only three hours after students of state-run Islamic high schools in Payakumbuh and residents of two subdistricts in Limapuluh Kota regency conducted Istisqo mass prayer to ask God to send rain,” Fajar of Payakumbuh said.

Head of the observation and information section of Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency’s (BMKG) Padang office, Budi Imam Samiaji, said that medium to heavy rains pouring in from some regions did help the haze subside on Wednesday.

“The rain in Padang was light, but it increased the visibility up to 7,000 meters at Minangkabau International Airport,” said Budi, adding that the visibility at the airport was previously, at its worst, only 1,500 meters due to the haze.

Budi also predicted that the chance of rain in some regions in West Sumatra was still high until mid-October.

“West Sumatra is still in a transition period. There is potential for rainfall amid a few days of heat. This has made us optimistic that the haze will not worsen,” Budi said.

While the new BNPB chief promised to clear Sumatra from the haze, many areas in Kalimantan affected by the thick smog might require a longer time to improve.

In North Barito, Central Kalimantan, the regency environment agency head Suriawan Prihandi said that a test of air quality in the region revealed that the air was not healthy at all due to the worsening haze.

“This can have a adverse impact on human health, especially in terms of an increase in the number of ISPA sufferers,” Suriawan said as quoted by Antara news agency, recommending residents to curtail outdoor activities.

The city’s education agency secretary Mahlani said the administration decided to send elementary students home for a week to avoid them suffering health problems due to the haze.

“The holiday is just for students, not for the teachers who have to work and prepare student examinations,” Mahlani said.

The Kalimantan chapter of Bank Indonesia has provided and distributed around 10,000 masks to students in the capital city of the province.

“We have prioritized the distribution of the masks to students,” the bank’s deputy head, Abas Sumarna, said.

The BMKG station at Temindung Airport of Samarinda, East Kalimantan said Terra and Aqua satellites detected 131 hot spots in East Kalimantan and North Kalimantan on Wednesday.

TNI deploys 1,150 soldiers to mitigate haze disaster
Antara 10 Sep 15;

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The National Defense Forces (TNI) is deploying 1,150 soldiers of the Air Force Special Force, the Marine Corps, and the Army's Strategic Reserve Command to mitigate the haze disaster in Sumatra.

TNI Chief General Gatot Nurmantyo according to written information received in Jakarta today, bid farewell to the soldiers joining the haze disaster mitigation task force at Halim Perdanakusuma Air Base in East Jakarta on Thursday.

Nurmantyo remarked that the TNI soldiers will be assigned to extinguish land and forest fires in the districts of Musi Banyuasin and Ogan Komering Ilir in South Sumatra province.

"This is a noble task to save the forest ecosystem and the community. We need to work together to deal with this disaster," he emphasized.

The TNI chief instructed the soldiers to scour the forest areas in their efforts to locate hotspots. He also urged them to not give up and to continue performing their duties.

"I urge every member of the task force to comb the forest areas to find hotspots. Giving up is not part of TNI's character," he affirmed.

The dispatch of soldiers to South Sumatra came four days after President Joko Widodo inspected the preparations to mitigate the haze disaster in the province on Sunday.

During the visit to South Sumatra, the president was accompanied by TNI Chief General Gatot Nurmantyo, National Police Chief General Badrodin Haiti, and Head of the National Disaster Mitigation Board (BNPB) Syamsul Maarif.

The BNPB earlier stated that land and forest fires had affected the provinces of South Sumatra, Riau, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, and South Kalimantan during this years drought.

72 Named Suspects in Growing Haze Crisis
Jakarta Globe 11 Sep 15;

Jakarta. More than 70 people have been named suspects for allegedly burning forest and lands in Kalimantan and Sumatra, exacerbating the returning haze crisis, police said on Thursday.

So far, 72 people have been found to be involved in burning 29,380 hectares of land in South Sumatra, Riau, Jambi, Central Kalimantan and West Kalimantan, National Police spokesman Ins. Gen. Anton Charliyan told reporters in Jakarta.

Local law enforcement officers have recorded 48 cases of arson, 16 of which have been fully investigated and are ready to be handed to prosecutors.

The suspects are not employed by any company, Anton said, adding that police will still develop their investigation to look into possibility of corporate involvement.

"We have ordered regional police to form task forces that will focus on the haze problem," said Anton.

Life-threatening smoke from forest and wildfires have exponentially increased in the past few months, sending air pollution indexes to dangerous levels, and reaching neighboring countries Singapore and Malaysia.

Hot spots decrease in Riau
thejakartapost.com 10 Sep 15;

Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) in Pekanbaru, Riau, has stated that the Tera and Aqua satellites have monitored a total of 210 hot spots across Sumatra on Thursday, decreasing from 283 hotspots the previous day.

Head of BMKB in the Riau provincial capital of Pekanbaru said that South Sumatra still had the highest number of hot spots, reaching 123 based on monitoring reports at 7 a.m. on Thursday.

According to Sugarin, hot spots were also seen in seven other Sumatran provinces.

“The level of confidence for the hot spots is 70 percent," Sugarin said as quoted by tempo.co.

He also said that there was a lot of haze in Riau.

“Light rain is expected to occur in the afternoon and in the evening across the north, middle and coastal parts of Riau. The temperature will reach around 31.5 to 33.5 degrees Celsius,” Sugarin said.

Visibility was decreasing due to the haze from the hot spots. However, in Pekanbaru the visibility was gradually improving and is currently around 1500 meters.

Head of Riau Disaster Mitigation Agency Edward Sanger explained to kompas.com that light and moderate rain had poured over some parts of Riau, which made the fires and haze less intense.

He said that a weather modification task force team was cloud seeding to produce rain and had also water bombed the forest fires from helicopters. “If there is haze, it is likely caused by forest fires in other provinces,” he added. (nov/bbn)(++++)

Jakarta deploys over 1,000 troops to fight forest fires
Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja, The Straits Times/Asia News Network Jakarta Post 11 Sep 15;

Indonesia is calling in more than 1,000 troops to help fight fires raging out of control near Palembang, blanketing the capital of South Sumatra province in hazardous, choking haze.

Winds have blown the acrid smoke from southern Sumatra northwards, reaching Riau province close to Singapore, where air quality plummeted on Thursday.

About half of the 1,059 soldiers arrived in Palembang around noon yesterday, bringing with them water pumps and masks as they geared up for a ground offensive. The remaining soldiers arrived in the afternoon.

The deployment is the first since mid-2013, when uncontrolled forest and land fires in Riau and southern Sumatra triggered thick haze that smothered Singapore and Malaysia, causing pollutant indexes to hit historic levels.

This time round, the fires are located predominantly in the southern part of Sumatra. The blazes are being exacerbated by the El Nino weather pattern that continues to strengthen. El Nino typically reduces rainfall in South-east Asia and can cause severe drought, leaving forests ripe for serious fires.

"Soldiers have to comb every corner of the forest that caught fire or that has potential to catch fire. Don't give up because giving up in this condition is not the character of an Indonesian soldier," said Indonesia's armed forces commander, General Gatot Nurmantyo, when sending soldiers off from Jakarta.

The air quality index in Palembang reached hazardous levels yesterday, forcing schools to close until at least tomorrow. Visibility ranged from 100m to 300m early yesterday. The index in Palembang was above 300. A reading of zero to 50 is considered good, 51-100 moderate, 101-200 unhealthy, 201-300 very unhealthy, and above 300 hazardous.

In Riau province, the worst-hit area was Pelalawan where visibility was only 100m, and the index above 300. Schools were ordered to close.

The air quality in Dumai, also in Riau province, improved slightly after good rainfall on Wednesday.

"The skies in Dumai have improved quite a lot. It's below 300 now, and is also cloudy at the moment," Mr Basri, head of Dumai's environment department, told The Straits Times.

Air pollution in Riau's capital Pekanbaru, which reached hazardous levels on Wednesday, improved yesterday. The visibility level was up to more than 1,000m.

Pinpointing those responsible for the fires can be tough, officials say. Most are started by people, including farmers and illegal loggers, and some by companies clearing land. Fires often start outside plantation concessions and then move inside. Some concessions also have communities living on non-developed land within their boundaries, complicating the picture further.

"We are mapping it out to identify areas that have the potential to have fires. We know most of them are not spontaneous fires, because they are started intentionally. Going forward, we will guard these potential fire areas for prevention," Gen Gatot said.

Fires have also covered much of Kalimantan in smoke, with parts of Central and East Kalimantan provinces covered in dense haze, according to the latest regional haze map produced by the Meteorological Service Singapore.

Hundreds of hot spots have also been reported in West Kalimantan and the haze has spread to Sarawak, disrupting flights. Visibility was down to 400m in Kuching yesterday morning. (k)(++++)

Thousands of Indonesians down with respiratory illnesses from haze
Strait Times/Asia News Network, Jakarta Post 11 Sep 15;

Tens of thousands of Indonesians have been treated for respiratory illnesses caused by thick smoke from hundreds of forest and land fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan, the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) said on Friday (Sept 11)The dry weather is set to persist for several more days, it added.

Across many areas, schools have been closed and flights delayed.

Nearly 15,000 residents in Riau province in Sumatra, near Singapore, suffered from upper respiratory infections, 22,855 residents in South Sumatra and about 40,000 in South Kalimantan, according to the BNPB statement.

"The haze has produced wide-ranging impacts, in terms of health, comfort as well as security. The upper respiratory infection cases are not to be taken lightly," said the newly appointed head of BNPB, Mr Willem Rampangilei.

Nearly all five provinces in Kalimantan were shrouded by smoke, said Dr Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, BNPB's spokesman.

Kalimantan had 1,312 hotspots, of which 508 were in the worst-affected West Kalimantan province, as at 5am Jakarta time on Friday, according to satellite imagery.

Kalimantan was suffering its worst haze so far this year, in terms of the size of the areas shrouded by haze.

Sumatra recorded 575 hot spots, and 78 per cent of those were in South Sumatra province.

BNPB will send in another helicopter to South Sumatra soon to beef up water-bombing operations, to add to the several that are operating now.

Visibility in Pekanbaru, the capital of Riau province, was 500m. In Pelalawan, also in Riau, it was 200m.

The air pollutant index in the provinces affected by thick haze -- which also include Jambi province, Central Kalimantan province and South Kalimantan province -- was mostly between the unhealthy and hazardous levels.

Indonesia sending thousands of troops to fight smog-causing fires
PADAMARAN Reuters 11 Sep 15;

Indonesia said on Friday it will send more than 10,000 troops to fight fires in southern Sumatra, as smoke makes thousands sick, delays flights and pushes air quality to unhealthy levels in neighboring Singapore and Malaysia.

Indonesia has vowed before to end the seasonal fires but has failed each time to stop the so-called "haze", caused by slash-and-burn clearances on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo, where large areas of forest concessions are held by pulp and paper and palm oil companies.

Indonesian troops will be sent to the provinces of South Sumatra and Jambi, two of the main hotspots, Indonesia's National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said.

If necessary, the agency would also send in additional helicopters to help water-bomb fires.

"We have mobilized national resources to put out the fires," newly appointed BNPB chief Willem Rampangilei said in a press release.

South Sumatra, one of the main centers of the fires, has alone reported 22,585 cases of acute respiratory tract infections since Friday.

Early on Friday, Singapore's Pollutants Standard Index rose to 248, which categorizes the air as "very unhealthy", or one level below the index's highest air pollution category of "hazardous".

Singapore, which was voting in a general election on Friday, advised citizens against strenuous outdoor exercise.

(Reporting by Beawiharta and Heru Asphiranto; Editing by Nick Macfie)