Think-tank SIIA explores ways to map hotspots amid haze

In 2013, ASEAN leaders approved a joint haze monitoring system, but there have been roadblocks in implementing the system. The Singapore Institute of International Affairs hopes to make these maps available to the public through its website.
Wendy Wong Channel NewsAsia 18 Sep 15;

SINGAPORE: In 2013, ASEAN leaders approved a joint haze monitoring system, which was supposed to help identify companies or farmers that resort to slash-and-burn tactics to clear land.

However, there have been roadblocks in implementing the system. A local think-tank is looking for ways to get around the problem.

The haze monitoring system uses satellite pictures, hotspot data and concession maps to pinpoint who is responsible for fires that cause the haze.

However, Malaysia and Indonesia have been reluctant to release concession maps, with senior officials from Indonesia stressing that they are prohibited from sharing these maps publicly.

Said assistant director of sustainability at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs (SIIA) Cheong Poh Kwan: "In the context of Indonesia, a big problem is that there are no standardised up-to-date and authoritative concession maps that can be revealed to the public and so this is a huge problem in the case of fire and haze tracking, because without the maps, it is very hard for us to establish accountability with fires being out of control."

HAZE MAPPING

SIIA is looking for an alternative solution. It went to Jakarta and Bogor in Indonesia earlier this week to meet non-governmental organisations, environment groups and private sector companies.

“What we learnt from the mapping experts we met in Indonesia is that mapping is actually not technically challenging with the help of technology, and is technically feasible,” said Ms Cheong. “In fact, the Civil Society in Indonesia has already mapped five million hectares of land and these are usually land with a lot of problems, with land conflicts; they are contested between the local communities and companies that have come into their area to try and develop it. So technically, it is not challenging.

“The bigger challenge is, how can we then get the government to recognise these maps, and also reconcile the differences between these community maps and the ones that the government has in their possession. Different ministries may also have different concession maps. And then, how do we get the different parties to understand and acknowledge and respect these boundaries when the maps are done."

The trip was a precursor to a meeting in November, which SIIA is convening to get experts to discuss and collaborate on haze mapping.

"In the absence of official maps, maybe we can think about using a platform to host unofficial maps that can be submitted, either by companies themselves or by mapping experts in Indonesia that are already doing the work with the help of local communities,” said Ms Cheong.

“So if these maps can be gathered, verified, then perhaps it could still help with the fire and haze monitoring system, and they can also potentially be used as powerful evidence for the operationalisation of the haze law," she added.

The think-tank hopes that these maps will be made available to the public through its Haze Tracker website. The site aims to help plug the information gap and provide a measure of accountability.

INDONESIA'S DECENTRALISED GOVERNMENT

SIIA also said that Jakarta's efforts to fight the haze have been weak due to the decentralised nature of Indonesia's government.

Said Ms Cheong: "From what we understood from a lot of NGOs that we have spoken to, the reason why a lot of plans that the central government has in place are not carried out is because the regional authorities are not doing what they are told to do.

“So in the instance of Riau, we know that there is already a fund allocated for them to stop the start of fires in the first place. Unfortunately, the fund was not fully utilised, because on their budget, it is stated that the fund is used for fire suppression and not fire prevention. So because of some of these administrative and technical complexities, the plan that the central government has in place is not carried out at the local level."

Ms Cheong also advised that one possible solution would be to reallocate the budget to provide more funding for fire prevention as well as fire suppression, and to ensure that future directives by the central government are more explicit in fighting the haze.

- CNA/ek


Cloud hangs over enforcement of anti-haze law
Audrey Tan, Samantha Boh, Straits Times AsiaOne 18 Sep 15;

A law to punish polluters who cause the haze has been lauded as an innovative and significant environment and public health law, but experts have pointed out challenges to its enforcement.

Inadequate policing in Indonesia, where the burning takes place, and a lack of reliable information on land ownership and usage there make it difficult to take errant companies to task, they say.

The law is also limited to foreign firms with a presence in Singapore, but prosecuting them here would not curb the practice of burning land there.

As National University of Singapore law professor Alan Tan said: "It is hard to see how prosecuting a few companies in Singapore can deter others when the practice of burning is so widespread and entrenched in Indonesia."

The experts were responding to queries on the recent breaches in the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act, passed in Parliament in August last year. The Act targets those responsible for causing or condoning fires if burning results in unhealthy levels of haze in Singapore.

Those guilty can be fined up to $100,000 a day, capped at a total of $2 million, for causing unhealthy haze, defined as a 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) value of 101 or greater for 24 hours or more.

There have been two such breaches since last week, the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources said on Tuesday.

The first was a 41-hour stretch that took place between 10am on Sept 10 and 2am on Sept 12, and the second was a 109-hour stretch that lasted from 8pm on Sept 12 to 8am on Sept 17.

The authorities said then that they are investigating both cases, which require information from various sources, such as maps, meteorological data and satellite imagery.

But experts have pointed to Indonesia's complex, often overlapping land ownership and usage rights as the primary difficulty in gaining knowledge on the sources of pollution.

"Land use and land tenure in Indonesia are governed by a complex web of national, provincial and customary laws that often compete and perhaps even conflict with each other," said Singapore Management University (SMU) law don Eugene Tan. "It is not at all clear, for the purpose of a successful prosecution, who might own a piece of land."

Dr Nigel Sizer, global director of the forests programme at United States-based think-tank World Resources Institute, agreed, saying: "Some fires occur in concessions managed by companies, but others occur outside concessions or are lit by individuals. Tools like Global Forest Watch can identify the location of the fires, but it can still be challenging to attribute individual fires to a specific actor, and in many cases, concession boundaries are highly disputed."

Indonesia's lack of willingness in sharing concession maps has long been cited as one of the main reasons that hinder law enforcement efforts in affected areas. Last month, a top Indonesian environment official said the country could not disclose plantation concession information, even from government to government, as doing so would breach Indonesian law.

SMU's Assistant Professor Mahdev Mohan, who has a research interest in public international law, said: "The absence of transparency when it comes to authoritative concession maps on land ownership, and specific data about what is happening within these concessions and surrounding areas, is striking."

Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan told reporters on Tuesday that he has appealed to the Indonesian Environment and Forestry minister for the names of companies currently being investigated by the authorities there. He said: "I want to make sure all executives, shareholders, owners, financiers of such companies know how seriously we take this issue, and that if we can get the evidence, we will not hesitate to take the fullest action possible against these companies."