Indonesia: Flights canceled, hot spots increase in Sumatra

thejakartapost.com 20 Oct 15;

Flights at the Sultan Syarif Kasim II International Airport in Pekanbaru, Riau, have been canceled on Tuesday due to smog, including those from Garuda Indonesia, Sriwijaya, Lion Air and Citilink.

"Of the 70 flights scheduled for today, 24 have been confirmed as canceled," said the airport's duty manager Hasnan Siregar on Tuesday as quoted by Antara news agency.

According to Hasnan, dozens of other flights have also been delayed due to limited visibility, which reached 800 meters at 11 a.m.

On Monday, all of the flights at the airport, 78 in total, were canceled due to similar reasons.

According to Pekanbaru's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), half of Riau province was covered in thick haze on Tuesday morning with visibility between 50 to 400 meters.

"Dumai suffers the worst with visibility only 50 meters at 7 a.m. Others, like Pelalawan and Pekanbaru, are between 300 and 400 m," said head of BMKG Pekanbaru Sugarin.

According to Sugarin, up to 825 hot spots were detected throughout Sumatra on Tuesday morning, with South Sumatra being the highest contributor with 654 hot spots.

Jambi, which previously had zero hot spots, is reportedly on fire again, with up to 110 hot spots detected. (kes)(++++)


Hot spots increase in Papua, South Sumatra
thejakartapost.com 21 Oct 15;

Several flights at Moses Kilangin Airport in Timika, Mimika regency, Papua, were canceled on Wednesday morning because as a thick haze from nearby fires brought visibility down to around 1 kilometer.

According to Timika meteorology station spokesperson Dwi Christanto, the region's cool weather has kept the haze from dissipating, leaving it to blanket the airport instead.

"Weather conditions in Timika will improve if the number of hot spots in Merauke regency are reduced and firefighting is maximized," said Dwi on Wednesday as quoted by Antara news agency.

Since Oct. 15, the airport has been unable to serve wide-body aircraft such as those from Garuda Indonesia, Sriwijaya Air and Airfast Indonesia.

On Tuesday, 257 hot spots were detected by NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites in Papua and Maluku, up from 229 the previous day. Yos Sudarso Island in Merauke regency and the border area between Merauke and Mappi regencies were said to have the most hot spots.

Meanwhile, the number of hot spots in South Sumatra has also increased, rising to 530 on Wednesday, spread across 16 regencies and cities. This increase comes despite the area having been the focus of foreign aid as requested by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo. Two days ago, there were only 163 hot spots in South Sumatra.

"The number of hot spots detected in South Sumatra in October has been fluctuating. It will decrease for a few days, but the next day drastically increase, just like today," said spokesperson for the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) South Sumatra, Indra Purnama.

Ogan Komering Ilir regency is home to most of South Sumatra’s hot spots, with 356, followed by Musi Rawas with 50 hot spots, Musi Banyuasin with 35, Banyuasin with 34, Lahat with 13, North Musi Rawas with 11 and Ogan Komering Ulu with 10. (kes)(++++)


Riau extends haze emergency status
thejakartapost.com 20 Oct 15;

Riau province has extended its air-pollution emergency status up to Nov. 1 a top official said on Tuesday.

Acting Riau governor Arsyadjuliandi Rachman issued a decree on the status extension on Oct. 19.

"We extend the haze emergency status as the air quality in Riau is not stable yet and there is still haze from neighboring provinces," he said as reported by Antara news agency.

Riau and other parts of Sumatra have been covered with their worst haze in history over the past three months due to forest and land fires mostly caused by land clearing for plantation companies.

Rachman said that the decision to prolong the status had been made in consultation with related agencies like the Riau haze task force and the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).

He cited the BMKG’s statement that air quality is still poor and that rainy season was predicted not to come until early November.

"We must increase health services so there will be no more people getting sick from the haze," he said.

Data from the Riau haze task force showed that air-pollution in Riau's capital of Pekanbaru was at a "dangerous" level.

Thick haze still covers Pekanbaru and continues to disrupt flights at Sultan Syarif Kasim II Airport.

Riau health office reports that there were 62,531 people affected by respiratory infections from Sept 29 to Oct. 18. (rin) (++++)


Law continues to be enforced against forest burners: Minister
Antara 20 Oct 15;

Palembang, S Sumatra (ANTARA News) - The police will continue to enforce the law against those found guilty of setting fire to forests, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan has said.

"The law enforcement has been carried out by the police and is being coordinated with the Environment and Forestry Ministry," Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said here on Tuesday.

He said he was continuously evaluating the way investigations in cases of those accused of setting fire to forest were proceeding.

"The law against those burning forest should be enforced firmly as part of the efforts to prevent such forest fires in the future," the minister said.

However, he noted, that the government has cooperated with foreign countries to extinguish land and forest fires in several provinces in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

"Two aircrafts from Russia will arrive this evening. These planes have a capacity of 12 thousand liters. I hope these will enable better handling of forest fires," he said.

Meanwhile, the National Police Chief, General Badrodin Haiti, said the police continues to investigate some reports of forest and plantation fires on Sumatra and Kalimantan islands.

"There are hundreds of reports of forest fires in Indonesia. We continue to investigate those cases," he said.

The police has submitted files of perpetrators involved in the fires to the Attorney Generals Office.

Earlier, the police had received 244 reports on forest and plantation fires. Of the 244 reports, 218 are being investigated, and 26 are in the pre-investigation stage.

Of the total number of cases registered, 113 cases involve individuals and 48 involve companies.

National Police Chief General Badrodin Haiti revealed that till October 12, the police had named 240 suspects, including individuals and 12 companies, in forest and land fire cases in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

They will be charged under the law on Protection and Management of the Environment that provides for a minimum punishment of three years and a maximum sentence of 10 years in jail, with a fine ranging from Rp3 billion to Rp10 billion.

The 12 companies are suspected of having acted as the mastermind behind the fires.

Of the companies named suspects, two are foreign companies. "One of the two foreign companies is from Malaysia, the other one being from China," Haiti told a press conference recently.

He said his office would conduct intensive investigations into the activities of the two foreign companies.

He said the police were also investigating possible involvement of a Singaporean firm in forest and land fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

"We are still examining the involvement of the Singaporean company. I could not yet ascertain its involvement," the police chief said.(*)


Palangka Raya authorities close schools as haze reaches hazardous level
Antara 20 Oct 15;

Palangka Raya, C Kalimantan (ANTARA News) - The Palangka Raya authorities have decided to temporarily close schools from the kindergarten to senior high school level as haze from forest fires has reached 1,354.32 PM10 level, which is deemed categorically dangerous.

The schools were closed from October 19 to 21, 2015, Septia Rianty, a senior high school teacher, stated here, Monday.

The students have been given homework, so they could study at home, she added.

"Teachers are actually highly concerned as the learning process of the students has been disrupted frequently due to the haze from forest fires," she affirmed.

She hoped the government would take stern action, so that such a disaster would not recur in the coming years.

Previously, the capital of Central Kalimantan had closed schools on September 10-16, on September 25-October 6, and yet again on October 16-17 due to the haze.

Head of the Palangka Raya education office Norma Hikmah remarked that the decision to close the schools was taken to prevent students from falling ill due to the air pollution.(*)


Get Real goes to the Heart of the Haze
Channel NewsAsia's investigative documentary team speaks to firefighters, activists, politicians and people on the street in Kalimantan, Indonesia, dealing with one of the worst haze crises since 1997.
Kane Cunico Channel NewsAsia 20 Oct 15;

PALANGKA RAYA: Around her, air pollution index (API) levels are at a staggering 2,600 API and a thick, yellowish haze her hometown a haunting, post-apocalyptic hue, yet college student Emmanuela Dewi Shinta is hopeful that things will get better.

"I’ll like to be optimistic about the next year, that there will be no haze,” the 23-year-old told Channel NewsAsia.

Emmanuela has been doing her bit to stem recurrence of the haze. She lobbies local politicians to take action on the yearly burning of peat land to make way for palm oil plantations and volunteers her time taking food to firefighters and villagers battling up to hundreds of hotspots around Central Kalimantan.

Emmanuela is one of the many people Channel NewsAsia's Get Real team spoke to at ground zero of the haze problem for the documentary Heart of the Haze. This year, Indonesians are experiencing one of its worst rash of forest and plantation fires since 1997. Indonesian President Joko Widodo has said up to 1.7 million hectares of land is burning.

NOWHERE TO HIDE FROM HAZE

Prior to the team's arrival in Palangka Raya on Sep 22, API levels were at 800. Anything above 350 according to Indonesia’s meteorological, climate and geophysics department is in the hazardous range. But API levels went off the charts the moment they landed and stayed that way for the next two weeks, at one point reaching 2,600.

Said producer Say Xiangyu, who filmed outdoors in such conditions for more than 12 hours daily for eight days, said: “The toxic haze affects you physically. The crew experienced breathing difficulties and felt dizzy on shoots. But it also gets to you mentally. You start feeling trapped, because there is nowhere to run from the haze. The haze is inside the mall, your hotel room and flights are grounded.”

Ms Say said comfort levels aside, it was more important for the crew and her to tell the stories of those living so close to the danger zone.

“I was amazed by their spirit. They did not sit around and wait for the government to help them. Instead, they joined the fight and asked what they could do for the country. Even if it’s in small ways, like cooking lunch for volunteers.

“I remember a particularly poignant moment when I stood at the grave of a girl called Intan. Her parents told me that the haze killed her. That really hit home for me – that this haze is not just irritating, or toxic – it’s deadly. And I never want to take fresh air for granted.”

Filming alongside Ms Say was cameraman, Bjorn Vaughn, 34, a resident of Palangka Raya for almost six years. His wife and child have moved to Jakarta to escape the toxic pall.

“Half the time I wouldn’t even recognise where we were. I felt that the whole place had an alternate dimension and it was very eerie,” he said referring to the yellowish smoke that descended upon the city.

Mr Vaughn said the crew was ultimately moved by the humanity that they uncovered throughout their journey. In particular, he was inspired by the many volunteer firefighters, some of them still in their teens. “I reflected on the many experiences that we had and the devastation we saw, and I would be very sad. I would think of that young firefighter in the news. That moved me to tears, that he’s fighting the fires because it was his spiritual calling,” said Mr Vaughn.

“People in Central Kalimantan, despite the circumstances, have amazing coping ability, and this incredible positivity.

“Their ability to be so loving, despite everything. It’s very hard to understand how people can stay so incredibly positive.”

Channel NewsAsia’s Get Real documentary, Heart Of The Haze, airs tonight, 8pm (SG/HK) and 7pm (JKT). Encores will be broadcast on Oct 21, 6pm (SG/HK) and Oct 22, 1pm (SG/HK).

Haze crisis could persist into new year, say experts
Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja, Strait Times Jakarta Post 20 Oct 15;

The fires raging in forests and peatland across Indonesia, which produce the thick haze that has spread across South-east Asia in recent weeks, are unlikely to be put out in the next month or two.

This means the crisis could persist into the new year, experts said, as the latest reports show hot spots emerging in 18 provinces in the archipelagic state in the past few days.

"Maybe it will last until December and January," Dr Herry Purnomo of the Centre for International Forestry Research said in a Reuters report yesterday. He added that there were also hot spots in Papua, a region usually spared such fires, because "people are opening new agriculture areas, like palm oil".

The Ministry of Environment and Forestry yesterday said it was still investigating the cause of the fires in Papua. But its director-general of law enforcement, Mr Rasio Ridho Sani, said this year's fires have reached an unprecedented level.

"We have never imagined we would ever see those lines of hot spots in Sulawesi and Papua," he told reporters, pointing to a hot- spot map during the briefing.

The smouldering haze from the fires has spread across many parts of Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines.

Malaysia's Natural Resources and Environment Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar was quoted in an Agence France-Presse report as saying that he expects the crisis to continue for another month. "Unless there is rain, there is no way human intervention can put out the fires."

Indonesian national disaster management agency (BNPB) spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told The Straits Times: "Rain will start in December. It is impossible that we will still have the haze problem in January."

Meanwhile, three cities on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao were also covered by thick smoke. Weather forecaster Gerry Pedrico told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that the haze had been covering the cities of Davao, Cagayan de Oro and General Santos since last Saturday.

The end of Indonesia's annual dry spell in October is usually marked by the start of the rainy season.

But the dry weather in Indonesia this year has been exacerbated by an extended El Nino season. This has made it harder to put out the fires, despite multinational firefighting operations in South Sumatra and Central Kalimantan - two of the worst-hit provinces in Indonesia.

Yesterday, a state of emergency was declared in North Sulawesi, which opened the doors for Jakarta to help contain the fires there.

A water bomber that can carry 4,300 litres of water was being prepared for deployment in the province, one of the latest to be hit by fires, said Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar.

Her ministry yesterday also revoked the licences of two plantation companies and suspended four firms for allegedly using fire to clear land. It also ordered another four companies to procure adequate equipment to prevent and douse fires on their concessions.

Mr Tri Budiarto, who is in charge of emergency response at BNPB, said the forecast from Indonesia's meteorology, climatology and geophysics agency indicates that in about a week, areas south of the Equator, which include South Sumatra and Central Kalimantan, should see rainfall.

"If this proves to be true later, God willing, our firefighting operations would get a lift," he said.

The haze crisis seems to be showing no signs of abating, but the Joko Widodo government is doing all it can to resolve the fires, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Luhut Pandjaitan said in Singapore yesterday.

Mr Luhut, who was speaking at the RSIS-Brookings-KADIN Distinguished Public Lecture, said on the sidelines of the event that two Russian-made Beriev Be-200 water bombers will be deployed today in South Sumatra's Ogan Komering Ilir regency.

He will also be heading to areas badly hit by forest fires in South Sumatra today. "I will be there to see the progress of the firefighting operations and also get a briefing on the effectiveness of water bombing," he said.