Indonesia: Joko Talks Tough as Forest Fires Blaze Out of Control

Jakarta Globe 6 Sep 15;

Jakarta. President Joko Widodo has called for firm action against individuals and companies responsible for the forest fires burning out of control in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

The haze generated by the fires has forced the closures of schools and airports in both regions, and sent air pollution indexes to hazardous levels.

“I already gave the order to the forestry minister: take firm action against the perpetrators,” Joko told reporters at Jakarta’s Halim Perdanakusuma air base on Sunday, just before taking off for South Sumatra to survey the situation firsthand.

“If we let them be, the fires will continue. We must put an end to these wrong practices… I want no more forest fires next year,” Joko said.

He later blamed “disobedient” plantation companies for setting the fires to clear land for planting, saying he had asked the Environment and Forestry Ministry to revoke the operating permits of companies found guilty of setting such fires igniting fires, and the police to impose criminal charges against them.

“I've already ordered the National Police chief to take firm action, to mete out the harshest punishment for companies that fail to obey [a prohibition in slash-and-burn forest clearing],” the president said after his arrival in South Sumatra later in the afternoon, where he inspected a once-forested area that had been razed by fire outside a village in Ogan Komering Ilir district.

Environmental activists also have also pointed to plantation companies’ slash-and-burn methods for most of the fires, although these companies have in turn blamed the smallholders often operating within or on the borders of their concessions.

Joko said forest fires and the haze they generated in Sumatra and Kalimantan over “the past few years” had caused an estimated Rp 50 trillion ($3.5 billion) in economic losses, while triggering protests from Singapore and Malaysia, where the haze routinely blots the sky and poses a serious public health threat.

“So let’s do all we can to immediately put an end to forest fires. All must take action and coordinate,” the president said, extending the call to the public, local governments, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), the Environment and Forestry Ministry, and the police and military.

This is not the first time Joko has made such a call, nor is he the first Indonesian president to do so. His predecessor, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, also threatened perpetrators with heavy punishment every time forest fires flared up during the dry season, and in 2013 issued an unprecedented apology for haze that sent air pollution indexes in Singapore and Malaysia to record levels.

The calls have proven fruitless so far, though, with forestry officials seemingly looking the other way as plantation companies and smallholders continue to torch what little forest cover remains, particularly in Sumatra.

President checks preparations to mitigate haze disaster
Antara 6 Sep 15;

Palembang, S Sumatra (ANTARA News) - President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo arrived at Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II Airport in Palembang, South Sumatra, on Sunday to check preparations to mitigate haze disaster in the province.

The President accompanied by National Defense Force (TNI) Chief General Gatot Nurmantyo, National Police Chief General Badrodin Haiti, and Head of the National Disaster Mitigation Board (BNPB) Syamsul Maarif arrived at the airport at around 10.00 a.m. by presidential flight. They were greeted by South Sumatra Governor Alex Noerdin.

Shortly after arriving at the airport, the President and entourage went straight to the meeting room at the airport to hold a closed-door meeting to coordinate forest and land fire mitigation efforts in the province.

According to the Presidential Bureau, the President wants the haze disaster to be handled quickly and properly.

The President and entourage later inspected the preparations made by haze disaster mitigation command post in Ogan Komering Ilir and Musi Banyuasin districts.

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

President Jokowi told reporters that the closed-door meeting only discussed efforts to mitigate hotspots so that their impact will not spread.(*)

Haze task force set up
Hans Nicholas Jong, The Jakarta Post 6 Sep 15;

The government has set up a “haze emergency” task force as the pollution from forest fires in some parts of the country has sent air quality down to its lowest level in many months, putting millions of people at great risk of suffering health problems.

The Environment and Forestry Ministry, as the main coordinator of the national task force, convened its first meeting on Saturday to discuss the technical details of the task force, which will involve the National Police and the Indonesian Army (TNI), as well as the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPT).

“There will be a decree signed by the Environment and Forestry Minister [for the establishment of the task force],” the ministry’s secretary-general, Bambang Hendroyono, said. “The decree will be issued on Monday.”

The task force will conduct a “haze emergency” operation at the national level to support soon-to-be-established task forces on regional levels, with the respective governors acting as coordinators.

Also present during the meeting were governors from provinces affected by recurring forest fires: Riau, South Sumatra, Jambi, Central Kalimantan and West Kalimantan.

While each province has attempted to prevent forest fires and extinguish them, the efforts have been hampered by a lack of financial support and coordination with the central government, something that the task force aims to rectify, according to Bambang.

At the initial stage, the Transportation Ministry had given permission to fly to more than 20 airplanes and helicopters, he said.

“In the past, the effort [to extinguish the forest fires from the air] had been slow because the helicopters [used for water bombing] could not fly [because they lacked permission]. They were stuck for almost five days,” Bambang said. “Now, the permission can easily be granted, including one for an Air Tractor from Australia that we rented. It’s already in Riau.”

He said the task force would prioritize the usage of existing technology, such as cloud seeding projects. “We will make fire extinguishing from the ground more effective and focus on regencies prone to forest fires,” Bambang said.

The task force would also make greater use of existing monitoring posts, which were established last year, he said.

“So the posts will monitor from early morning where the hot spots are in order to determine which regencies are to be prioritized,” said Bambang. “The result of the monitoring will be reported to governors in the evening to be followed up the day after. The monitoring posts will work 24 hours and have links to a command center at the ministry.”

The chairman of the National Body for Disaster Management (BNPB), Syamsul Maarif, said on Friday the President, among others, had called for establishing more monitoring posts in a number of places in Sumatra and Kalimantan to help the firefighters do their jobs more effectively.

Syamsul said four posts will be established in Sumatra and another four will be established in Kalimantan.

The task force would deploy more human resources to regions in order to monitor forest fires,
Bambang said.

He added the task force would not have to deal with budget constraints as both regional and national disaster mitigation agencies had committed to provide as much financial support as was needed. “This meeting asked the governors as the ones in charge of the Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency [BPPD] to work in coordination with the BNPT so that there are no more budget problems,” said Bambang.

Syamsul said the number of hot spots had gone down in Riau and Jambi on Friday, but had increased in South Sumatra.

A US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellite operated by Singapore detected a total of 184 hot spots in the five provinces as of Thursday, while the Modis Terra Aqua satellites detected 689 hot spots.

However, analysts have predicted the number of hot spots could grow as climate experts warned this year’s El Niño is very likely to match the intensity of the record-breaking weather phenomenon in 1997, which induced a prolonged drought and widespread fires in Indonesia.

More copters to fight Sumatra fires
Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja Straits Times AsiaOne 6 Sep 15;

Firefighters working to put out a blaze in Giam Siak Kecil biosphere reserve, home to rare and endangered species, in Riau on Thursday. Riau, given its proximity to Singapore and Malaysia, is the highest priority, said a deputy chairman from Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency.

Indonesia says it is stepping up efforts to battle haze but critics say more helicopters, planes are needed

Indonesia's National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has deployed three more helicopters to fight the haze-producing fires in Sumatra, bringing the total number to 13, but some environmentalists say that is still far too few.

The haze is making life miserable for as many as 22.6 million residents in Sumatra and three million in Kalimantan. It has blanketed 80 per cent of Sumatra, BNPB spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said yesterday.

Winds have blown the haze to parts of Malaysia and Singapore as well where conditions eased slightly yesterday, but the skies are not expected to clear completely any time soon.

Indonesia said it is stepping up efforts to curb the spread of land and forest fires in six provinces, including Riau, near Singapore, Jambi and South Sumatra.

But Mr Yuyun Indradi, a Jakarta- based forest campaigner with Greenpeace, told The Straits Times it is not enough.

"Roughly, each province needs at least five helicopters and two aircraft," he said, which means that 30 helicopters and 12 planes would be needed to fight the fires in all six provinces.

"More helicopters and aircraft can sustain the efforts longer," said Mr Yuyun. "It's as simple as that."

Yesterday, however, the BNPB had only two helicopters working in Jambi province and one in South Kalimantan, and planned to add a plane to its efforts in Riau tomorrow, other than its operations in South Sumatra and West and Central Kalimantan.

Riau, given its proximity to Singapore and Malaysia, is the highest priority, said Mr Tri Budiarto, a BNPB deputy chairman in charge of emergency operations, at a media briefing in Jakarta yesterday. As of tomorrow, three helicopters and two planes will be in the air there, more than in any other province.

Dry weather has reduced the water levels in the region's rivers and canals, making efforts to contain the fires challenging, especially for ground teams, said Mr Raffles Panjaitan, director of forest fire control at the Environment and Forestry Ministry, at the same briefing.

"For ground operations, each trip from a water source to a fire site could take between half an hour and two hours," he said.

In the air, water-bombing helicopters and planes are used for cloud-seeding, but a lack of clouds has hampered their efforts to induce rain. On the ground, 1,500 to 2,000 people in each province are working to put out the fires.

The BNPB is coordinating the efforts, which include not only the weather agency and Environment and Forestry Ministry, but also the military and police.

Winds over Sumatra have been predominantly blowing from the south, sparing Singapore and Peninsular Malaysia from the worst of the haze for now, said BNPB's Dr Sutopo.

While several areas in Peninsular Malaysia breached unhealthy levels on Thursday, the readings from all 52 monitoring stations throughout the country showed good to moderate air quality levels yesterday.

In Singapore, the haze is expected to worsen slightly today with the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) reaching the high end of the moderate range, the National Environment Agency said.

A Jakarta-based MetroTV news reporter yesterday asked Mr Raffles if Indonesia would consider using helicopters or planes lent by neighbouring countries. "We have our own resources," Mr Raffles said. "Why should we be assisted and make ourselves look like we can't handle our problem?"