Indonesia: Haze remains unbeatable despite downpours, efforts to douse fires

Rizal Harahap and Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, The Jakarta Post 22 Sep 15;

Despite the declining intensity of smoke in some parts of Sumatra over the past two days, the overall air quality on the island has remained at alarming levels, putting residents and local authorities on constant alert regarding the impact of thick haze on health and transportation safety.

In West Sumatra, a Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) station in Bukit Kototabang, Agam regency, reported on Monday that some regions in the province recorded the air quality at the “moderate” or “healthy” level.

Thick haze that brought down the air quality in Agam to the “dangerous” level on Saturday, for example, subsided on Monday following rain that poured over the area on the weekend.

The same downpour, however, only managed to briefly reduce the intensity of haze that blanketed the provincial capital of Padang, located 100 kilometers southeast of Agam. After rain subdued the haze on Sunday night, the smoke thickened again on Monday morning.

“With the current level of rain intensity, West Sumatra will not see haze disappearing as long as it keeps coming from the neighboring South Sumatra, Jambi and Riau provinces,” GAW head Edison Kurniawan said on Monday.

Apart from West Sumatra, Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan are among the provinces hardest hit by the air pollution originating from fires in peatland and plantations. The ongoing haze crisis has also been exacerbated with this year’s prolonged dry season that has been triggered by the El Niño weather phenomenon.

In Pekanbaru, Riau, the local Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) station reported that 139 hotspots had been detected in the province on Monday morning, an increase from only 20 spotted a day earlier. The figure accounted for almost half of the total 284 hotspots detected across Sumatra.

BMKG officer Aristya Ardhitama attributed the surge in the number of hotspots to returning fires in peatland.

“The only way to completely put out fires in peatland is by submerging it in water. That’s why heavy equipment will be needed to build canals to engulf fire-prone peatland,” Aristya said.

Despite the increase in the number of hotspots, Riau has also seen the air quality in some regions improve from “dangerous” to “unhealthy”, the BMKG reported.

Responding to the fluctuating haze intensity, Pekanbaru Education Agency head Zulfadil said his office had decided to extend its earlier policy to close local schools, which was supposed to be lifted on Monday.

“After coordinating with officials from the Riau Education Agency, we have decided to extend the policy until the Riau provincial administration lifts its current haze emergency status,” Zulfadil said.

The Riau Transportation Agency recently reported that more than 600 flights from and to Pekanbaru’s Sultan Syarif Kasim II International Airport were delayed or canceled during recent weeks due to poor visibility.

In North Sumatra, Nias search and rescue (SAR) station coordinator Torang M. Hutahaean said thick haze that had blanketed Nias waters for the past three days had caused many local fishermen to become lost in the middle of the sea.

In Central Java, some 100 hikers were reportedly trapped on Mount Slamet as fires caught alight in a forest on the slopes of the 3,428-meter-high volcano. “Military and SAR personnel have been deployed to make sure that all climbers can be rescued,” Purbalingga Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) head Priyo Satmoko said.

Apriadi Gunawan in Medan and Agus Maryono in Purbalingga contributed to this article.

Central Kalimantan's PSI pushing 2,000
MY PAPER AsiaOne 23 Sep 15;

JAKARTA - The haze from Kalimantan's forest fires intensified yesterday, driving the pollution gauge in parts of the Borneo island to hazardous levels, especially in Central Kalimantan province, where the pollution index came close to 2,000.

In Sumatra, the other centre of the haze outbreak, rainfall helped alleviate the pollution in Riau province. But the air may worsen again in Jambi and South Sumatra provinces after days of improvement, reported the local media.

According to data from the Indonesian Agency for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics, the Pollution Standards Index (PSI) at Palangkaraya, capital of Central Kalimantan, reached a day's high of 1,986.73 yesterday, more than five times above the "hazardous" air quality base level of 350.1, reported Bloomberg.

In the West Kalimantan city of Pontianak, the gauge peaked at 706.45.

The morning visibility in Palangkaraya reached only 10m yesterday, and residents had to put up with a stench in the air and irritated eyes, online newspaper Banjarmasin Post reported.

The persistent haze prompted about 150 activists to stage a protest yesterday outside the office of Central Kalimantan's acting governor Hadi Probowo, urging for quick and concrete solutions, reported the newspaper.

"The government is not serious in addressing the fire in Central Kalimantan. They only prevent the burning, but never go for the perpetrators," said one protester.

Meanwhile, Jakarta announced it has revoked the licence of Indonesian wood supplier Hutani Sola Lestari, which is based in Sumatra, reported Agence France-Presse.

Environment Ministry spokesman Eka W. Sugiri also said three companies running oil-palm plantations in Sumatra are banned from operation until legal actions against them have been completed.

Muhammad Yunus, director of criminal law at the Environment Ministry, said a Singapore-owned company was also under investigation, but declined to elaborate, reported Reuters.

The fires, mostly started to clear land for oil-palm and pulp and paper plantations on Sumatra and Kalimantan, are an annual occurrence.

But Indonesian President Joko Widodo has insisted this year that law breakers will be punished.

Police have in the past week launched investigations into several companies and arrested executives, while more than 170 individuals are also being probed over the fires.

Malaysia's state of Sarawak, which borders Kalimantan, yesterday reported the return of the haze, with the Air Pollutant Index (API) in the capital of Kuching reaching 112, an unhealthy mark, the BorneoPost reported.

But the API in Kuala Lumpur hovered in the moderate range of between 70 and 80.

In Sumatra, the haze in Jambi province has thickened again, the Tempo daily reported, without citing the PSI.

According to Arif Munandar, who heads the Jambi branch of the National Agency for Disaster Management, the haze came mainly from the neighbouring South Sumatra province.

Air quality in Pekanbaru - Riau's capital, where a haze emergency was declared last week - was reported to be good yesterday.

Haze worsens as Singapore, parts of Indonesia covered in smog
Today Online 23 Sep 15;

JAKARTA — The haze from Indonesian forest fires intensified this afternoon (Sept 22), driving the pollution gauge in parts of the country to hazardous levels and blanketing downtown Singapore with a layer of smog.

The pollution index at Palangkaraya in Central Kalimantan province reached 1,990.4, more than five times the “hazardous” air quality base level of 351, according to data from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics. In the West Kalimantan city of Pontianak, the gauge was at 481.64. In Singapore, the 3-hour PSI rose to 161 as of 5 pm, while the 24-hour PSI was 85-103.

Indonesia’s enforcement of its laws against plantation owners is key to resolving the haze that covered parts of Southeast Asia in the past few weeks, Singapore’s Environment Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said on Friday. The smog led the city-state to cancel outdoor events and flights were diverted across the region.

Seven flights at the Kuching International Airport in the east Malaysian state of Sarawak were also affected due to low visibility because of the haze, state news agency Bernama reported.

Indonesia last week set a 14-day deadline starting to extinguish fires in Riau, and a 30-day target for South Sumatra and Jambi. The government has detained suspects in companies in various parts of the country.

Indonesia will take firm action on concession holders and blacklist directors, commissioners and owners involved in forest fires, Mr Luhut Panjaitan, coordinating minister for politics, law and security affairs, said yesterday in Jakarta, adding he was betting his reputation on the matter.

The haze led organisers of the Formula One race in Singapore over the weekend to add contingency plans such as selling N95 masks at cost and having medical personnel on standby for haze-related conditions. BLOOMBERG