Indonesia: Haze worsening in Sumatra, Kalimantan provinces

Syofiardi Bachyul Jb and Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post 2 Oct 15;

Haze thickened on Thursday in many parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan, forcing local authorities to temporarily shut down schools and airport operators to cancel flights.

In West Sumatra, thick haze descended over the province beginning from the morning.

“This is really concerning. It’s never been like this before in Padang,” Yuni of Ulak Karang, Padang, West Sumatra, said on Thursday.

The visibility at Minangkabau International Airport (BIM) was only 800 meters for a little while before increasing again to 1,000 meters.

“There has been increasing intensity of haze since the morning, but it fluctuates, and that is why it is still fine, at certain times, to continue flights,” said Budi Iman Samiaji, observation and information section head of the Padang branch of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).

He said the haze had come from neighboring South Sumatra and Jambi provinces, where 168 and 18 hot spots had been detected, respectively. Strong winds had caused the haze to thicken in West Sumatra.

Budi also said that unless the sources of the forest fires were extinguished, rain that might fall over West Sumatra within the next two days would not effectively reduce the haze in the province.

Separately, in Agam regency, the local education agency told kindergartens to temporarily shut down for an undetermined amount of time.

Isra, the secretary for the regency’s education, youth and sports agency, said that if the haze worsened, elementary schools would follow suit.

The same measure was also taken by the Payakumbuh city education agency. The agency sent home kindergarten and elementary school students due to worsening air quality in the municipality.

Worsening air quality prompted the rapid response team of PT Semen Padang to distribute 5,000 masks to its employees in three different locations. The company also ordered an additional 10,000 masks in case conditions worsened.

In Medan, North Sumatra, people also complained of the thickening haze coming to the region from neighboring provinces.

Danden, 40, a motorized pedicab driver from Padang Bulan, Medan, said that haze had been thickening in the region for the last two days, forcing him to put on mask while working outdoors.

“Without a mask, I cannot breathe easily,” Danden told The Jakarta Post.

Thick haze had decreased visibility at Kualanamu International Airport in Deli Serdang regency along with other airports in North Sumatra including Ferdinand Lumban Tobing Airport in Sibolga city and Aek Godang Airport in Padang Sidempuan regency.

Local BMKG stations reported that visibility at Kualanamu on Thursday, from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m., ranged between 700 and 1,200 meters. At Aek Godang, visibility stood at 500 meters.

“From yesterday until today, the Aek Godang and Pinangsori airports have not served flights because of thick haze,” Deassy Eirene Doloksaribu, of BMKG’s Kualanamu station, said.

Meanwhile, Indonesia’s central bank evacuated the families of its staff at a regional capital in Kalimantan, as haze from forest fires reached hazardous levels on the island, Bloomberg reported.

Bank Indonesia paid for the families in Pontianak, West Kalimantan province, to move to the coast further north, where sea breezes and air conditioning reduced the severity of the smoky air, said Dwi Suslamanto, head of the central bank in West Kalimantan.

Around 125,000 people in Indonesia are suffering health issues related to the haze, Willem Rampangilei, the head of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), said on Thursday.

“We can’t rely on human efforts to manage this disaster,” said Dwi, who has asked Bank Indonesia headquarters in Jakarta for supplies of clean water. “Our only hope is for rain, and for the people who started the fires not to repeat what they did.”

Pollution from the burning of Indonesian forests has been felt most acutely in Kalimantan and Sumatra, shutting down schools and leading to an increase in respiratory illnesses. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is investigating more than 100 companies with fires on their concessions, and the disaster agency aims to extinguish the fires by early November.

A gauge of tiny air-pollution particles reached 989 in Palangkaraya in Kalimantan, and 950 in Palembang on Sumatra, almost three times the 350 level considered hazardous, the BMKG said on its website. In Singapore, a three-hour pollution index was at a “unhealthy” level on Thursday.

South Sumatra`s peatlands attracting global attention -- Governor
Antara 2 Oct 15;

Palembang (ANTARA News) - The peatlands in South Sumatra are now drawing global attention to initiate the restoration process, according to Governor Alex Noerdin.

The governor stated here on Friday that some peatland observers from across the world have come to South Sumatra to obtain firsthand information on how to save and improve the peatland areas in the province.

According to Noerdin, six institutions from Britain and other countries, including the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), have planned to develop the peatland areas in South Sumatra as the first ecoregion in the world.

He noted that one of the activities planned to be conducted is to restore and preserve the peatland areas in South Sumatra.

The governor further added that the global community has chalked out several plans for South Sumatra, the first of which is to restore the peatland areas in the province.

"So, if they begin working on it this month, the province will probably start reaping the results in December and in the future," the governor remarked.

He said the team of researchers from ZSL will directly visit the peatland areas on October 12 to immediately start the mapping process.

Noerdin affirmed that the ecoregion area will be established in South Sumatra and will be converted into a national park in a bid to preserve it.
(Uu.O001/INE/KR-BSR/F001)

Indonesian police investigate 232 cases of forest and plantation fires
Antara 2 Oct 15;

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesian police are investigating 232 cases of forest and plantation fires on Sumatra and Kalimantan islands.

"As of October 1, 2015, police have tackled 232 reports on forest and plantation fires," head of the National Polices Crime Investigation Department (Bareskrim) Commissioner General Anang Iskandar said here on Friday.

The 232 cases include 190 individual cases and 42 cases that involve companies, including two foreign companies.

The police have also named 212 suspects in those cases.

"Of the 212 suspects, 203 are individual suspects, and nine concern corporations," he stated.

Further, he explained that of 212 suspects, only 72 have been detained. They comprise 67 individuals and five suspects represent corporations.

Bareskrim has investigated four cases, South Sumatras police handled 34 cases, Riaus police 68, Jambis police 18 cases, Central Kalimantans police 59, West Kalimantans police 29, South Kalimantans police 9, and East Kalimantans police 11 cases.

The two foreign companies being investigated are PT ASP of China, being handled by the Central Kalimantan police, and PT KAL of Australia, handled by West Kalimantans police.
(T.A064/Uu.F001/INE/KR-BSR/H-YH)


Three choppers deployed to tackle hotspots in Riau
Antara 2 Oct 15;

Pekanbaru (ANTARA News) - The Riau Provincial Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) has deployed three helicopters to conduct water bombing operations in Siak district on Friday.

On Friday, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) detected hotspots in a 10-hectare plot of idle land in the district, Head of the BPBD in Riau Province Edwar Sanger remarked.

"Since this morning, three helicopters --- Camorv, MI 171, and Sikosrsky --- have tried to put out the fire. The latest developments show that the fire could be controlled," he affirmed.

He noted that the three helicopters, assisted by firefighters from the BPBD, are currently focusing on handling the haze caused by the land fire.

"We continued to dampen the area by conducting water bombing operations to prevent the recurrence of fire. Thank God, there was rain this morning," he stated.

The agency is making every effort to prevent any recurrence of the fire, he emphasized.

By Friday, no hotspots were detected in Riau province. However, he expressed regret over the fact that haze continued to shroud Riau despite no hotspots being found in the past week.

"We speak based on data. No hotspots were found in Riau in the past week, but it is still blanketed in haze. The latest data from the BMKG suggest that 693 hotspots were found in South Sumatra, 32 in Jambi, and 37 in Lampung. So, we must soon overcome the smoke arising from its source," he added.

(Reported by Fazar Muhardi & Anggi Romadhoni/Uu.INE/KR-BSR/H-YH)

Environmentalists Take On Govt Plan to Reduce Waiting Period for Permits to Exploit Production Forests
Jakarta Globe 2 Oct 15;

Jakarta. Indonesia is set to shorten the waiting period for businesses wishing to use the country production forest in an effort to attract investment and boost its sluggish economy.

President Joko Widodo on Tuesday announced a second economic stimulus policy package that, among others, includes fast-track business licensing for major investments as the economy dropped to its slowest growth since 2009 at 4.67 percent in the first half of this year.

During the same occasion, Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar revealed her office will expedite the permit issuance process for companies looking to exploit production forests for their business to a maximum of 15 days from the current waiting period, which can reach up to four years.

The minister did not disclose a timeline as to when the statute will come into effect, but it will be settled in the form of ministerial regulation.

Nawacita

Environmental groups have expressed concerns over the minister's decision to slash the waiting period, noting that the government, both at the central and local levels, still struggles with forest management.

"Look at the current situation with haze and forest fires, they're still everywhere," Yuyun Indradi, forest political campaigner at Greenpeace Indonesia, told the Jakarta Globe on Friday.

Yuyun suggested that the main force behind the decision was the government's effort to achieve Joko's Nine Priorities Agenda, also known as Nawacita.

The campaigner noted Joko's target to develop p 1.2 million hectares of land for the country's food sector.

"The lands may be turned into paddy fields or palm oil plantations, which eventually produce food staples," Yuyun said.

Still, he praised the government's efforts to reduce red tape, which could also see a decrease in unrecorded costs from lengthy waiting periods.

"But this is a challenge for Joko, because the ministry is mostly filled with people from the previous administration," he said.

Moratorium

Experts also warned the government to ensure that the reduction in waiting periods won't lead to discrepancies in the process of approving or rejecting a proposal to clear land in the country's production forests ̶ which stood at 47 million hectares in 2013.

"I hope that this doesn't mean that there's a bypass in the process to obtain a permit," said Nyoman Iswarayoga, communications and advocacy director at WWF-Indonesia.

Nyoman pointed out that the 15 days the government set for administrative purposes likely does not include a pre-auditing process.

"Still, based on our experience, it would take more than 15 days to ensure that there's no conflict," he said.

He added that the ministry would only be able to put the plan into effect in 2017 when Indonesia's moratorium on new forest concessions expires.

"If the ministry imposes the plan now, the government will be violating its own regulations," he said.

One Map initiative

Environmentalists demanded for the government to have created its One Map initiative ̶ a centralized forestry map used by all levels of authority and aimed at resolving conflicting land claims that have hampered emissions reductions targets ̶ before the plan officially becomes a regulation.

"This map can minimize the chances of unwanted tenurial conflicts with local residents, and so providing assurance for investment," said Nyoman.

Greenpeace's Yuyun also called for transparency from the ministry so the public may also monitor the process and partake in forest protection and management.

"Transparency can help eradicate corruption in the environment sector," he said.


Haze in South Sumatra drops from hazardous level to unhealthy range
The air pollution index (API) in South Sumatra dropped from the hazardous level to unhealthy range on Friday.
Jack Board Channel NewsAsia 2 Oct 15;

PALEMBANG, Indonesia: The air pollution index (API) in Palembang, South Sumatra, dropped from the hazardous level of 627 in the early hours on Friday (Oct 2) to 244 at 9am local time.

However, haze caused by fires burning throughout the region continues to hover over the city in the unhealthy range between 150 and 250.

A local state university, Sriwijaya University, confirmed that students and staff had been instructed to take two days off due to the lingering haze.

On Thursday, more than 509 hotspots were detected in Sumatra, with the API reading in Palembang nearing the 1,000 mark.

Despite the high level of haze that continues to affect parts of Southeast Asia, the Indonesian National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) said it is not necessary to raise the forest fires and haze crisis to a national disaster level. However, the agency admitted certain conditions need to be met.

The last time Indonesia declared a state of national disaster was in 2004 during the Asian tsunami which killed more than 200,000 Indonesians.

Indonesia Expects Haze To End Next Month
Bernama 2 Oct 15;

JAKARTA, Oct 2 (Bernama) -- The haze caused by forest and plantation fires in Indonesia is expected to end by next month with the beginning of the rainy season soon.

Indonesia's National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) head Willem Rampangilei was quoted by local media as saying that with the weather shift, the fires in the peatlands would be put out and the haze which has plagued Malaysia and Singapore for the last two months would be eliminated.

He said the haze in Sumatra was also decreasing now due to two days of rain in several areas over the island.

The rainy season starts in late October or early November and it will help extinguish the fire, he said.

"The biggest challenge this time in dealing with forest and agricultural land fires was the peat fires and dry weather," he added.

Meanwhile, according to the republic's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency website, the Air Pollutants Index (API) reading in Palangkaraya in Central Kaliamantan was still at the hazardous level while in Jambi and Palembang, it remained at very unhealthy levels.

The API reading in Palangkaraya was more than 1,300 since 3 pm today and has not dropped until 6pm.

The haze situation in Palangkaraya has paralysed all daily activities and all schools have been closed since Monday after the area was declared a 'haze emergency'.

Jambi recorded API readings of up to 1,000 early this morning, before dropping to 552 at 6 pm, while in Palembang the API reading this morning was 673 before dropping to 315 at 6pm.

-- BERNAMA