Weeks of acrid haze have caused flight delays, school closures in Malaysia and respiratory problems for thousands
Oliver Holmes The Guardian 5 Oct 15;
The illegal burning of forests and agricultural land across Indonesia has blanketed much of south-east Asia in an acrid haze, leading to one of the most severe regional shutdowns in years.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said Indonesia needs to convict plantation companies for the noxious smoke, created by the annual destruction of plants during the dry season. Burning the land is a quick way to ready the soil for new seed.
“We want Indonesia to take action,” he was quoted as saying by the state news agency Bernama, adding the smog was affecting the economy. “Indonesia alone can gather evidence and convict the companies concerned.”
In Singapore, races for the swimming world cup – the FINA World Championship – were cancelled on Saturday. A marathon in Malaysia on Sunday was also abandoned and all schools were closed on Monday and Tuesday.
Tens of thousands of people in Indonesia and Malaysia have sought medical treatment for respiratory problems. The annual burning is decades old and Indonesia has faced mounting pressure to end the practice.
Scientists say the pollution could surpass 1997 levels when the haze created an environmental disaster that cost an estimated US$9 billion in damage.
“If the forecasts for a longer dry season hold, this suggests 2015 will rank among the most severe events on record,” said Robert Field, a Columbia University scientist based at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies.
In Singapore, news websites post near-hourly updates on the danger of being outside. Some shops were providing free masks for children and elderly people.
“Healthy persons should reduce prolonged or strenuous outdoor physical exertion ... Persons who are not feeling well, especially the elderly and children, and those with chronic heart or lung conditions, should seek medical attention,” it said.
Following a public outcry, ten Singaporean companies that manufacture paper products announced on Monday they do not source wood from five firms in Indonesia suspected of contributing to the haze.
Greenpeace says the fires, mostly from peatland, kill roughly 110,000 people a year in the region through associated conditions.
Indonesia has deployed 20,000 security forces police to water bomb the fields and use chemicals to artificially induce rainfall. It also says it has investigated companies and ordered four to suspend operations.
The country is the fifth largest emitter of greenhouse gases, according to the World Resources Institute thinktank. Jakarta promised last week at the United Nations to curb emissions by 2030.
Singapore had offered to send C-130 aircraft to Indonesia to conduct cloud seeding operations and Chinook helicopters to douse the forest fires but Jakarta refused the offer, Indonesian state news agency Antara said.
“We will first strive to overcome [the fires] by ourselves. So far, there has not been any agreement with Singapore [about dealing with these fires],” cabinet secretary Pramono Anung was quoted as saying.
Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister Zahid Hamidi has said Jakarta’s efforts were not enough and it should seek more regional help. The Malaysian minister of defence said on Twitter he had fallen ill due to the haze and warned Malaysians to stay indoors.
AFP news agency contributed to this report
Malaysian PM urges Indonesia to act on smoke-belching fires
AFP Yahoo News 5 Oct 15;
Malaysia's premier has urged Indonesia to act against those to blame for raging fires that have blanketed Southeast Asia in smog for weeks, as Malaysian schools closed again Monday over health concerns.
The regional environmental crisis has caused flights and major events to be cancelled, and forced tens of thousands of people in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore to seek treatment for respiratory problems.
"They (plantation companies) are operating there, we want Indonesia to take action," Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was quoted as saying by state news agency Bernama late on Sunday.
"Only Indonesia alone can gather evidence and convict the companies concerned."
The blazes flare annually during the dry season as fires are illegally set to clear land for cultivation on Indonesia's island of Sumatra and in the Indonesian portion of Borneo island.
Singapore consumer and environmental groups called Monday for a commercial boycott of "irresponsible" companies contributing to regional air pollution through the fires.
The non-government Singapore Environment Council and the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) issued an approved list of 10 paper-making companies.
The 10 have declared that they do not buy or use any materials from Indonesian producers which are facing legal action by Singapore.
Five firms operating on Sumatra, including global giant Asia Pulp and Paper, have received legal notices from Singapore which could result in huge fines.
They were the first companies openly named by Singapore as potential culprits under a newly activated law allowing the island republic to sue overseas firms found to have contributed to serious haze outbreaks.
Air quality was again in the officially "unhealthy" range in Singapore on Monday after a brief respite over the weekend.
CASE urged Singaporeans to "send a strong signal to the errant companies that consumers' goodwill should not be taken for granted and consumers will not support companies which are environmentally responsible and/or have contributed to the environmental disaster year after year".
Experts have warned that this year's flare-up is on track to equal or surpass an infamous 1997 haze outbreak that sent pollution soaring to record highs and caused an estimated $9 billion in economic damage across the region.
Indonesia has sent more than 20,000 troops, police and other personnel to fight fires in an effort that has included waterbombing and chemically induced rainfall.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo's office said he was "very serious in tackling the forest fires" but dry weather caused by the El Nino climate phenomenon posed a challenge.
Presidential spokesman Ari Dwipayana told AFP that companies found to be responsible for lighting fires could have their business permits revoked, but added: "All this takes time."
Malaysian authorities ordered school closures last month due to bad air quality, and over the weekend announced schools across much of the country would close again on Monday and Tuesday.
Bernama said Najib, speaking on a trip to Italy, added that the haze was also affecting Malaysia's economy.
Indonesia has for years faced pressure from its neighbours to act but the haze recurs annually to varying degrees.
Singapore officials last week expressed impatience with Indonesia, and Malaysia's Najib said the three countries must work together to formulate an effective strategy to tackle the annual environmental disaster.
Poor air quality forced the cancellation of major events at the weekend.
In Singapore races in the FINA World Championship -- swimming's World Cup -- were called off on Saturday, and one of Malaysia's biggest marathons set for Sunday in Kuala Lumpur was cancelled.
Some local Malaysian football league matches have also been shelved.
Low visibility causes boat crash in Sumatra as haze hits Thailand
Today Online 6 Oct 15;
JAMBI/BANGKOK — Two persons were killed in a speedboat crash caused by poor visibility in the Indonesian province of Jambi, which has been enveloped in thick haze for months.
Skipper Daenk Manggata, 45, said he was unable to see well when docking the vessel amid thick haze on Sunday morning (Oct 4), sending the speedboat into a column before it capsized with 18 on board.
A crew member, identified as 26-year-old Amirduin, and 60-year-old passenger Subaidah were killed in the incident while the rest of those on board were rescued by port officials and bystanders, reported Jakarta Globe.
Local authorities estimated visibility at just 100m at the time of the accident.
The accident in Jambi, which is on the island of Sumatra, comes amid one of South-east Asia’s most serious environmental pollution, which has persisted for about a month.
Schools in Malaysia and Singapore have closed when the haze has been heavy, sports events have been cancelled and tourism operators are fretting. Health authorities across the region have warned people to avoid exercise on bad days.
The haze has also spread to Thailand yesterday, the first time it has reached hazardous levels so far north, highlighting the regional nature of a problem that is being blamed on Indonesia’s inability to prevent big plantation companies from burning forests to clear land for new trees.
Thai environment officials said the level of pollution from Indonesia has risen sharply in the south of the country, near the Malaysian border, and health authorities were issuing face masks and opening hotlines to provide advice.
Dr Wijarn Simachaya, the director general of Thailand’s Pollution Control Department, told The Associated Press that “the situation is getting worse”.
“We didn’t think it would be bad this year, but it is,” he said.
Indonesia has come under pressure in the past few weeks to contain the annual haze crisis, which is caused by slash-and-burn agriculture on Sumatra island and the Indonesian part of Borneo island.
Companies seeking to clear land for palm oil and pulp wood plantations have been accused of encouraging the fires that often smoulder for weeks in underground peat deposits.
The problem has been exacerbated this year by the El Nino weather phenomenon, which has brought unusually dry conditions.
Indonesia says more than 200 companies, most of them from South-east Asia, are being investigated on suspicion of causing fires.
The Indonesian police said yesterday that one company from Australia, palm oil plantation operator PT Kayung Agro Lestari (KAL), and one from China were among them.
A representative of KAL, a subsidiary of PT Austindo Nusantara Jaya Agri, said it was “not accurate to call KAL an Australian company” and that only 0.01 per cent of it was owned by an Australian citizen. He said the company was cooperating with the investigation.
The police did not identify the Chinese company.
Indonesia has repeatedly declined offers of help from neighbouring countries to help put out the fires. AGENCIES
How to keep up the pressure against haze
NISID HAJARI Today Online 6 Oct 15;
Singapore is starting to look like Beijing or New Delhi. That is because you cannot see it through the haze. Smog has disrupted outdoor events, forced schools to close and sent commuters running for their surgical masks.
Singaporeans know why. Every year during the dry season, farmers and plantation companies light fires on the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Borneo to clear land for farming and for the production of paper and palm oil. Wind carries the smoke across the Malacca Strait and the South China Sea.
An especially bad episode in 1997 caused regional outrage and an estimated US$9 billion (S$12.8 billion) in economic damage. Nearly two decades later, in 2013, air pollution readings in Singapore and Malaysia topped 400 and 700, respectively. (Anything above 301 is considered hazardous.) An El Nino weather pattern this year has raised fears that smoggy skies could persist into 2016.
On paper at least, regional governments have finally heeded calls to do something about the problem.
Last year, Indonesia ratified an agreement that calls on countries to combat burning and share information. In May, the government extended a moratorium on clearing forests and peat land. Local laws are tough: Anyone responsible for setting fires can be sentenced to 15 years in jail and fined up to US$350,000. Singapore, where several big paper and palm-oil companies are headquartered, has established fines of up to S$2 million for corporations that enable or condone burning that pollutes the city-state.
Businesses have begun to regulate themselves. Many have adopted zero-deforestation pledges, while industry groups have established certification for sustainably produced palm oil, which is sold at a premium. Companies can also buy credits to offset their purchases of uncertified palm oil, thus funding what remains a niche market.
Haze measures need time
The challenges are obvious, of course. Many of these measures will need time to have an impact. Under Indonesia’s decentralised system, instituted in 2001, the central government has little sway at ground level, where local officials often profit from existing arrangements. Enforcement is weak.
Small-scale farmers may be responsible for much of the burning. Pinpointing the source of fires is complicated by overlapping land claims. Chasing down and arresting peasants would be time-consuming and fruitless. Indonesian authorities would be better off educating farmers about the dangers of burning and helping them pay for more expensive, alternate land-clearing techniques.
That hardly means the government is helpless, though. As bad as the air may be in Singapore or Kuala Lumpur, it is positively apocalyptic in places like the Indonesian province of Kalimantan, on Borneo, where a pollution index reached nearly 2,000 last month. The authorities could try encouraging local watchdog groups by increasing rewards for whistleblowers.
Prosecutors need to deter would-be scofflaws by winning more high-profile cases like the one that recently resulted in a US$25.6 million fine against the palm-oil company PT Kallista Alam, for setting fires in Aceh province. At the very least, the central government could help identify offenders by more readily supplying concession maps for a regional monitoring system, and speeding up plans to consolidate conflicting land-use maps into a single, accepted version.
Companies could do more, too. Even if they adhere to strict standards themselves, they face no penalties for failing to scrutinise how their suppliers conduct business, or how the land they buy was cleared.
Most effective of all might be a strategy to target these companies’ funding. Banks, sovereign wealth funds and private-equity investors could urge better behaviour by restricting their loans and investments to companies that adhere to environmental, social and governance standards that can be independently audited. Singapore’s Monetary Authority could have an immediate impact by establishing stewardship codes to guide investment decisions by local banks and government-linked entities.
Customers also have a role to play. They can demand better labelling of products that use palm oil to highlight those using sustainable producers. More countries could follow the lead of the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, which intend to import only sustainably-sourced palm oil.
At some point, this year’s haze will give way to blue skies. Only sustained pressure, from several angles, will keep it from returning. BLOOMBERG
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Nisid Hajari, who is based in Singapore, writes editorials on Asia. He was previously managing editor and foreign editor of Newsweek magazine, as well as managing editor of Newsweek International.
