Singapore and Malaysia urged to share responsibility for Indonesia forest fires

Jewel Topsfield Sydney Morning Herald 24 Sep 15;

Jakarta: Singapore and Malaysia should share responsibility for the annual forest fires that have cloaked the region in deadly haze by buying carbon credits from Indonesia, according to the Indonesia-based Centre for International Forestry Research.

Singapore and Malaysia have complained bitterly over what the Straits Times dubbed the "enveloping menace". The Singaporean Government called for stricter action against the perpetrators and information on those responsible for the haze.

But Centre for International Forestry Research scientist Herry Purnomo said Singapore and Malaysia needed to share the responsibility for the fires and haze with Indonesia as they shared the profits from palm oil.

"I would like them to buy carbon credits from the people of Sumatra," said Dr Herry. "So many of my colleagues produce carbon credits but there are no buyers."

The Centre for International Forestry Research aims to help shape policy and improve the management of tropical forests.

Fires are often used to clear land for palm oil and acacia plantations because it is about 10 times cheaper than mechanical land clearing. It is especially difficult to access remote peatland with heavy machinery.

Palm oil plantations owned by Indonesian, Malaysian and Singaporean companies reaped revenues of $US18.4 billion ($25.8 billion) in 2014.

"In compensation, Malaysia and Singapore could be carbon credit buyers," Dr Herry said.

Indonesia has launched investigations into 200 companies and ordered four to suspend operations for allegedly causing forest fires, as it struggles to combat the devastating haze caused by hotspots in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo said losses caused by the fires could reach trillions of rupiahs and brought disadvantage to the entire country.

The government has declared seven companies suspects for having forest fires on their land.

"I instructed the Minister of Environment and Forestry to not hesitate in revoking the licences of irresponsible concession holders," Mr Joko said during a visit to firefighters at Gantung Damar village in South Kalimantan on Wednesday.

The government had created artificial rain, provided 17 water-bombing helicopters and deployed more than 2000 military and police. Mr Joko said concession holders must dig canals on peatland to prevent future fires.

But Dr Herry said while the government was taking the fires seriously, it was not strong enough to solve the problem.

He said a "patronage network" made up of elites who wore multiple hats, such as farmers, politicians, businesspeople and government officers, benefited enormously from the fires.

"These protective patronage networks hinder the government's capacity," Dr Herry said. "The scale of these financial benefits means livelihood alternatives need to be significant."

The chairman of the Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association, Joko Supriyono, disagreed.

He said palm oil companies that burned to open up their plantations faced jail sentences of up to 10 years. Companies that burned on planted concessions would be "burning our own assets". "We have no motive and reason to burn the land," he added.

He cited Global Forest Watch data that found most of the fires were not on land held by palm oil company concession holders.

"Journalists should not dramatise situations. This is a very big problem but we have already done the best thing to overcome the crisis," he said.

Greenpeace Indonesia spokeswoman Anisa Rahmawati said there were about 110,000 deaths a year across South-East Asia due to the fires that blight the region annually.

"Pupils can't go to school for a month, 460 flights have been cancelled due to the fire haze - these are things you can't value with money," she said.