Indonesian Police: Forest Fires More Difficult to Tackle Than Terrorism

Jakarta Globe 16 Sep 15;

Jakarta. Police have charged more than 100 individuals and are investigating dozens of companies believed to be responsible for forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan, but according to the chief of National Police, Gen. Badrodin Haiti, slash-and-burn cases are more difficult to solve than those involving drugs or terrorism.

“In terrorism and drugs [cases], we have access to preliminary information, there’s the links and networks [of offenders],” he said, adding the police in such cases can also question people who know the suspects and use wiretapping or tracking methods to go after perpetrators.

“However, for [forest] fires, [the problem] how we get this [preliminary information] fast, who started it?,” Badrodin said.

Badrodin said that fire spots can now be detected with satellites, but it is not immediately clear whether someone set that particular fire on purpose.

“We can’t possibly install CCTV to monitor every spot in the forest,” the police chief said.

Scientists and businesses have called on the government to revise laws that allow small subsistence farmers to perform slash-and-burn practices.

The issue is becoming more and more pressing as haze blankets large parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan and also Singapore and parts of Malaysia.

National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Suharsono said on Monday that the police in various parts of country have charged at least 107 individuals believed to be responsible for a number of forest fire cases.

Meanwhile, the World Resources Institutes said in a statement on Saturday that fires have reached crisis levels in South Sumatra and Kalimantan, arguing that the situation is worse this year than the major outbreaks in June 2013, March 2014 and November 2014.

The WRI said satellites had detected 1,189 ‘high-confidence’ fire alerts, exceeding the highest peaks of the last two years and it said “many of the fires, which are used to clear land for agriculture, are occurring on carbon-rich peat soils, causing widespread haze.”

Sport stadium being prepared to shelter haze victims
Rizal Harahap, thejakartapost.com 15 Sep 15;

After being pressured by students, NGOs and community leaders, the Riau provincial government has made plans to use the Tribuana sports stadium as a shelter for haze victims as the air quality in the province has continued to decrease.

Acting Riau governor Arsyadjuliandi “Andi” Rachman said on Tuesday that there had been three locations being prepared to serve as temporary shelters before the sports stadium was eventually decided on. “The stadium was selected because it could accommodate a lot of people and it is not far from the city,” he said.

Haze from forest fires in Riau and its neighboring provinces have caused many problems including lowering air quality, disrupting flights and closing down schools. Latest reports say that some civil servants have been advised not to go to their workplaces.

“Anyone who wants to seek protection from the smoke, please come to the sports stadium. The Riau government has prepared spring beds, mattresses, medicines and other facilities for the convenience of haze victims,” he added.

But he stressed that the shelter was just one of a several options for the Riau residents as the local government would continue to serve haze victims at hospitals, community healthcare centers and a number of additional healthcare posts set up around the province.

He said that there were currently six healthcare posts and that there would soon be two more near the Tribuana sports stadium to serve the people taking shelter there.

Meanwhile, Pekanbaru Mayor Firdaus has conceded that the hazardous air pollution has made the city no longer a healthy place to live as the Pollutant Standard Index (PSI) now reads at above the health limit of 300.

“One morning the air pollution was measured at 1,000. Smoke has entered residents’ houses. Should the city be evacuated? Where should the people go? Other areas were also affected by the haze,” he said, adding that many wealthy people had already left the city.

Firdaus said his government had reduced the workload of civil servant by 60 percent due to the haze. He said that he had shifted civil servants working outdoors into offices to minimize the impact of the haze.

“I have also called on people to reduce their outdoor activities because the haze level is very dangerous for people’s health. Wear a mask if you are forced to work outside buildings, drink lots of water and consume lots of fruit,” he added. (bbn)(++++)

- See more at: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/09/15/sport-stadium-being-prepared-shelter-haze-victims.html#sthash.ynwEvEZt.dpuf



Owner of company involved in forest fires can face sanctions
Antara 15 Sep 15;
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Any company found guilty of setting fire to land and forest will have not only its permit revoked, but the owner or shareholders will face sanctions, National Police Chief General Badrodin Haiti said.

"Sanctions must be imposed not only on the company but also on its board of directors, the board of commissioners, owner or shareholders," he said at a meeting of smoke emergency operation task force at the Environment and Forestry Ministry here Tuesday.

Led by Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Luhut Panjaitan, the meeting was attended by National Defense Forces General Gatot Nurmantyo, Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya, Chief of the National Disaster Mitigation Board (BNPB) Willem R.

Also present were representatives of the Health Ministry and the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), the Riau governor, the South Sumatra governor and officials of the Jambi, South Kalimantan and West Kalimantan provinces.

Ten of the 132 cases of land and forest fires in several parts of the country which are now being investigated involve companies, Haiti noted.

Three of those 10 cases are found in South Sumatra, three in Central Kalimantan, three in West Kalimantan and one in Riau.

The government is serious about handling land and forest fires which have inflicted losses on the community, Panjaitan said earlier.

"We dont play the game with this. We will take stern measures against those found guilty of land and forest fires," he said.

The meeting this time discussed the imposition of sanctions on land and forest arsonists as a follow up to President Joko Widodos visit to South Sumatra to inspect preparations for haze disaster mitigation efforts, the coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs said.

"Dont hesitate to act on land and forest arsonists," he remarked.

Panjaitan said the tragedy of land and forest fires about which neighboring countries have complained about is related to the self-esteem of the Indonesian nation. Furthermore, the Indonesian government has been accused of being unable to fight the arsonists.(*)

Indonesian military deploys 1,059 personnel to overcome forest fires
Antara 15 Sep 15;

Indonesian military deploys 1,059 personnel to overcome forest fires
Photo document of personnel of the Indonesian National Army (TNI) to extinguish peat fires in Gambur Jaya sub-district, Muara Jambi district, Jambi. (ANTARA/Wahyu Putro A.)
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) has redeployed 1,059 of its personnel to overcome the ongoing problem of haze in Riau, Sumatra.

"The decision to deploy the personnel was made following President Joko Widodos instruction on Monday night. Today, I conducted a ceremony to review the forces that would be sent there," TNI Commander General, Gatot Nurmantyo, said after seeing off the personnel at Jakartas Halim Perdanakusumah air force base.

The forces that are being sent to Riau have been drawn from the Army Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad), the navys marine corps and the air force. They were transported aboard a Hercules plane and three CN-295 aircraft.

Nurmantyo said that the duration for which they would be assigned there depends upon the condition, adding jokingly that he hoped they can return tomorrow.

"It is hoped that it can be overcome immediately. As soon as the haze is gone, they will return," he stated.

Besides Riau, TNI has also deployed its personnel in South Sumatra, with particular focus on Ogan Komering Ilir, which is peat land area.

Peat land fires are harder to control as even though they have been put out; smoke continues to emanate from the soil, which is a problem, Nurmantyo added.

(Reporting by Syaiful Hakim/Uu.H-YH/INE/KR-BSR/A014)

Indonesia battles forest fires
The Star 16 Sep 15;

JAKARTA: A worsening haze across northern Indonesia, neighbouring Singapore and parts of Malaysia forced some schools to close and airlines to delay flights, while Indonesia ordered a crackdown on lighting fires to clear forested land.

South-East Asia has suffered for years from annual bouts of smog caused by slash-and-burn practices in Indonesia’s Sumatra and Kali­mantan islands, but governments in the region have failed to address the problem.

The fires have been exacerbated this year by the El Nino weather phenomenon, as a prolonged dry season in Indonesia has parched the top soil, fuelling the flames.

“The fire problems have reached a critical point,” Luhut Pandjaitan, coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, said.

“Our neighbouring countries have protested for years. We are not playing around.”

President Joko Widodo, who was on an official visit to the Middle East, instructed security forces late Monday to accelerate efforts to extinguish the fires and revoke land permits from companies found responsible.

Nearly 3,000 military and police personnel, 17 helicopters and four cloud-seeding aircraft have been deployed to fight the fires, according to the country’s disaster management agency.

A state of emergency has been declared in Indonesia’s Riau and Central Kalimantan provinces as the air quality index hit “dangerous” levels, rising to as high as 984, officials said.

In Singapore, the index has fluctuated well above 100 – considered “unhealthy” – for the past few days, and reached as high as 249 on Monday night, putting it in “very unhealthy” territory.

Indonesia has struggled for years to contain forest fires and the resulting haze despite repeatedly promising to punish perpetrators.

The unhealthy air has caused acute respiratory infections for around 26,000 people in Indonesia’s Riau province alone, a government official said.

It has also increased the workload for doctors in Malaysia and Singapore, where the haze has clouded the build-up to the Formula One night race later this week.

Malaysia said it was preparing to conduct cloud-seeding operations to reduce the haze as schools were closed in several states yesterday and some flights were disrupted due to poor visibility.

The smog is usually caused by firms and small-holder farmers clearing land adjacent to existing concessions for palm or pulp and paper.

Major plantation companies like Asia Pulp and Paper say that they have a “zero burning” policy but have often been criticised by green groups for not doing enough to stop the haze.

Indonesian authorities plan to sanction this week three or four companies of the total 26 under investigation, said Environment Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar, with the revoking of their land permits a possibility. — Reuters


Indonesia struggles with haze crisis
Rizal Harahap and Ina Parlina, The Jakarta Post 15 Sep 15;

Smoke from land and forest fires that has blanketed Sumatra and Kalimantan has continued to intensify over the past few days, forcing local administrations to take drastic measures to curb the impact of the problem, including asking the central government to intervene in the handling of the disaster.

After battling the impact of thick haze that has enveloped the province over the past several weeks, acting Riau Governor Arsyadjuliandi “Andi” Rachman on Monday issued a gubernatorial decree declaring an emergency status regarding air pollution in Riau, the country’s top oil-producing region.

Speaking at a press conference, Andi said the decision had been taken at a closed-door meeting attended by officials from the provincial administration and related ministries.

The main driver of the emergency status, he said, was the level of the pollutant standards index (PSI) in the province that had remained above 300 over the past three days.

“It [indicates] that the air quality is at a dangerous level. Until recently, the [index] also touched the 300 [level] but kept fluctuating,” he said.

Local authorities, according to Andi, are no longer capable of dealing with the haze as land and forest fires, the source of the problem, are not only located in Riau province.

Quoting data from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), Andi said that as of Monday morning 982 hot spots had been detected across Sumatra. Of that number, 618 and 184 were in neighboring South Sumatra and Jambi provinces, respectively.

“Wind has brought the haze from the south [of Sumatra] toward the north and west. The haze concentrating in Riau has increased the PSI level to a dangerous level,” he said.

The 2007 Disaster Mitigation Law stipulates that a governor, regent or mayor has the authority to declare disaster emergency status in his or her respective jurisdiction.

Article 50 of the law also stipulates that under disaster emergency status, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) and its regional offices (BPBD) are given access to the deployment of, among other things, human resources, logistics, goods and services to provide immediate assistance in the affected area.

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

Apart from creating health problems and disrupting the operation of local airports, the fires have also caused air quality levels in neighboring Singapore and Malaysia to deteriorate to alarming levels.

Separately, Riau Health Agency head Andra Sjafril said that more than 25,000 people in the province’s 12 regions had recently suffered from haze-related diseases, with the majority of them suffering from acute respiratory infection (ISPA).



In Jambi municipality, the local health agency reported on Monday that the intensifying haze in the city had caused an almost 10-fold increase in the number of ISPA patients, from 2,849 patients in August to 20,741 over the first two weeks of this month.

Last week, a two-year-old infant and a 15-year-old schoolgirl from the city died after experiencing acute respiratory problems.

There have been similar health issues in Medan, North Sumatra.

“I’ve been suffering from a cough for a week. I finally visited the nearest Puskesmas (community health center) as the cough won’t go away,” Medan resident Ismail told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

BNPB spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said that 22,855 people in South Sumatra and 53,442 people in South Kalimantan had suffered from ISPA.

Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar, the coordinator of the newly established national haze emergency taskforce, said that as of Monday, 18 million liters of water had been dropped in water-bombing operations over Riau and 12 million liters over South Sumatra. Over 120 tons of salt flares have been fired into clouds to trigger rain in Riau, while 56 tons have been released into the air in Jambi and South Sumatra in cloud-seeding operations.

In response to worsening haze, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who was touring the Middle East on Monday, asked regional administrations to improve health services in the affected areas and instructed law enforcement to take stern legal action against all parties, including forest concession owners, deemed responsible for the land and forest fires.

“Once again, I want to emphasize that legal action against [the responsible parties] will be taken very firmly,” he said.

- Jon Afrizal in Jambi, Apriadi Gunawan in Medan and Syofiardi Bachyul Jb in Padang also contributed to this article.