Indonesia: More than 10,000 Jambi residents suffer respiratory infections

thejakartapost.com 26 Sep 15;

More than 10,000 people in the city of Jambi have been suffering from acute respiratory infections (ISPA) due to haze from land and forest fires.

“Jambi Mayor Syarif Fasya has called on the health officers to work extra hard by visiting the residents instead of waiting for them to come to the health centers,” said Jambi provincial administration spokesperson Abubakar as quoted by tempo.co on Saturday.

In addition to thick smoke, Jambi city is also blanketed with leftover ashes from the burned forest and land with the Air Pollution Standard Index (ISPU) reaching the level of 525 parts per million (ppm).

“Jambi residents should have been evacuated since the ISPU is already highly hazardous for their health,” said Jambi Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) head Arif Munandar.

According to Arif, over the past three days, hot spots were not detected in the province. The smog that blanketed the city allegedly came from South Sumatra.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) Jambi spokesperson, Dwi Atmoko, said that rain was predicted to fall in the province from around mid-October until mid-November.

“Jambi’s visibility over the last three days was only 100 to 400 meters,” said Dwi.

Jambi Police are currently investigating 15 plantation firms and have named 28 people suspects for allegedly being involved in land-burning cases. (kes)(++++)


Land, forest fires put humans, endangered animals at risk
Novi Abdi and Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post 26 Sep 15;

Despite the improving air quality in several cities in Sumatra on Friday, land and forest fires have continued to create problems in many parts of the country, putting local residents and ecosystems at risk.

In East Kalimantan, fires have reportedly burned over 200 hectares of the Samboja Lestari orangutan sanctuary since Wednesday.

Located some 50 kilometers north of Balikpapan, the 1,852-ha facility, managed by the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF), currently accommodates 209 orangutans and 47 honey bears in its rehabilitation and reintroduction programs.

“What we are concerned most about is that the smoke [from the fires] will cause our staff and orangutans to suffer from diseases,” BOSF’s spokesperson Nico Hermanu said on Friday.

Meanwhile In South Sulawesi, fires in Bengo village, Kimapoccoe subdistrict, Cenrana district, Maros regency, razed 50 ha of Hasanuddin University’s educational forest and 50 ha of neighboring forest that is part of the Bantimurung-Bulusaraung National Park.

“Fortunately, we managed to put out the fire so that it did not expand to the residential complex located only 500 meters from the burned site,” Maros Regency Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) head Suyuti said on Friday.

In North Sumatra, all airports in the province were declared free of haze on Friday after struggling with poor visibility for the past several weeks.

Meanwhile, in neighboring West Sumatra, the intensity of haze significantly dropped following downpours in most parts of the province.

“Looking at the present conditions, we are optimistic that the air quality in West Sumatra will continue to improve as the haze is better handled in its place of origin,” said acting head of West Sumatra provincial BPBD, Zulfiatno.

However, Riau, the country’s largest oil-producing region, was still struggling with poor visibility on Friday.

“The visibility in Rengat, Indragiri Hulu [regency], is 100 meters, Pelalawan [regency] is 200 meters, Dumai municipality is 1,500 meters and Pekanbaru municipality is 4,000 meters,” Meteorology Climatology and Geophysics Agency’s (BMKG) Pekanbaru station head Sugarin said.

BMKG Pekanbaru also reported that 1,465 hot spots had surrounded Sumatra on Friday, an increase from 1,025 the previous day.

“Of the 1,465 hot spots detected, 1,296 are in South Sumatra,” Sugarin said.

Riau, along with Central Kalimantan, West Kalimantan, Jambi and South Sumatra, are among the provinces hardest hit by the air pollution originating from fires in peatland and plantations.

The ongoing haze crisis has been exacerbated by this year’s prolonged dry season triggered by the El Niño weather phenomenon.

Apriadi Gunawan in Medan and Syofiardi Bachyul Jb in Padang contributed to this article.

Haze still blanketing parts of Riau although hot spots disappear
thejakartapost.com 26 Sep 15;

A number of areas in Riau province were still covered by thick haze although hot spots had not been visible in the province's forests for the past 24 hours on Saturday morning.

The worst, according to the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) in Pekanbaru, occurred in Rengat, Indragiri Hulu regency, where the visibility was only around 50 meters on Saturday morning. In Bengkalis Island, the thick haze disrupted people’s activities.

Head of BMKG’s Pekanbaru office Sugarin, however, said that the conditions of the provincial capital of Pekanbaru and Dumai city were much better as the visibility reached 1,000 m and 2,000 m.

According to Sugarin, the haze in Riau came from forest fires in the neighboring provinces like South Sumatera, Lampung and Bangka Belitung.

BMKG recorded 71 hot spots on Sumatra Island as monitored by Terra and Aqua satellites in the morning. As many as 55 hot spots were detected in South Sumatra, 12 in Lampung, three in Bangka Belitung and one in North Sumatra.

The weather in Riau was cloudy. Light rain, accompanied by thunder and strong winds, may occur in the evening in northern, western, eastern and central Riau.

Riau Police have named 58 suspects in connection with forest burning from early 2015 until September 2015, while 16 corporations are under police investigation. (edn/bbn)(++++)