Indonesia: Jokowi Schedules Riau Trip as Haze Crisis Resurfaces

Jakarta Globe 4 Sep 15;

Jakarta. President Joko Widodo has announced he'll visit haze-hit Riau province "in the coming days," a senior official said on Friday, to help find a solution for the recurring problem of forest fires.

"The president is very concerned about the forest- and wildfires. He'll go to Riau tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, depending on the visibility," Syamsul Maarif, chief of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), told reporters after a meeting with the president at the State Palace in Jakarta.

Data from the BNPB shows that 22.6 million people in Sumatra and Kalimantan could face health problems due to the haze, and visibility in large parts of these islands has been less than 500 meters, forcing airports and schools to close.

Last November, the president, who is also widely known by his nickname Jokowi, made his first Riau visit in connection to rampant fires on Sumatra and Kalimantan, which also often cause transboundary haze problems, affecting neighboring Singapore and Malaysia.

Joko, who has an educational background in forestry, has previously said that farms should be run by local people, rather than corporations, to help curb the haze crisis.

Indonesia's Environment Ministry has said peat fires contributed to 25 percent of the country's carbon emissions between 2000 and 2005, second only to deforestation.

Ahead of a big UN Climate Change conference in Paris in December, the ministry recently announced a more ambitious emissions reduction target: 29 percent by 2030. Currently the nation's target, which was set back in 2009, stands at 26 percent by 2020 and the country has only achieved half so far.

Jokowi calls for intensifying the fight against forest fires
thejakartapost.com 4 Sep 15;

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has called on relevant government agencies to intensify their efforts to extinguish the forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan that have affected transportation and the health of people in those regions.

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

“He [the President) told us to immediately hold meetings to discuss the establishment of eight monitoring posts,” said Syamsul as quoted by tribunnews.com at the Presidential Place after meeting with the President.

According to Syamsul, four posts will be established in Sumatra and another four will be established in Kalimantan.

Syamsul said that the number of hotspots had declined in Riau and Jambi on Friday, but had increased in South Sumatra province.

He said personnel from the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police would help his institution to enforce the law against those who intentionally burned forests.

The Home Affairs Ministry has called on governors to declare a state of emergency in their respective provinces if the forest fires become uncontrollable. This declaration, according to Syamsul, was a positive development, but he noted that “what we call disaster here is not forest fires, but the widespread smoke,” he said. (bbn)(++++)

President orders activating command posts to handle smoke from fires
Antara 4 Sep 15;

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Joko Widodo has ordered to activate command posts to control and tackle smoke problems in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

"The president has ordered the opening of four command posts in Kalimantan and four in Sumatra," Chief of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Syamsul Maarif stated here on Friday after attending a limited cabinet meeting led by the president at the State Palace.

He noted that the president is giving serious attention to the problem and has also planned to personally inspect the on-field situation.

Syamsul remarked that four measures to be taken to deal with the smoke arising from bush fires, include extinguishing the fires as early as possible, ensuring law enforcement, undertaking health efforts, and informing the public to not set fire for land-clearing activities.

Secretary General of the Ministry of Forestry and Environment Bambang Hendroyono pointed out that, as the field coordinator, his office would work with all concerned parties to immediately overcome the smoke problem.

He stated that a meeting with the military and the police would be held on Saturday to deal with the situation.

Bambang noted that 156 fires had been detected in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

He hoped the smoke problem would be overcome this month.

Activities at the airport in Jambi, Sumatra, had been brought to a standstill, with no flight operations on Friday due to the thick smog covering the area.

The airports chief operator, Parolan Simanjuntak, stated that until late afternoon, 12 flights had been cancelled, and no aircraft had landed at the Sulthan Thaha Airport. He added that only one Garuda flight had departed to Jakarta in the morning after an overnight halt at the airport.

He emphasized that only one aircraft had landed at the airport at 8:30 p.m. local time on Thursday.(*)