Rizal Harahap and Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post 7 Oct 15;
The thick haze that has blanketed parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan for months has caused hundreds of thousands of residents to suffer respiratory and other diseases.
Pekanbaru Health Agency head Helda S. Munir said 10,932 people in the provincial capital of Riau, had been treated for acute respiratory infections (ISPA) and other haze-related illnesses, such as skin and eye irritations in the past two months.
“ISPA patients alone amount to 9,636 people. The data was collected from 12 community health centers in the city’s 12 districts,” Helda said.
Meanwhile, the number of ISPA patients in North Penajam Paser regency in East Kalimantan has increased from 1,733 people in July to 2,194 people in August.
The regency’s health agency head Arnold Wayong said the increase in ISPA patients was believed to be due to the haze that has shrouded North Penajam Paser for months.
According to data from the Health Ministry, the number of ISPA patients from June to October in Riau Islands stood at 45,668; in Jambi the figure was 69,734; South Sumatra, 83,276; West Kalimantan, 43,477; South Kalimantan, 29,104; and 29,104 in South Kalimantan.
Arnold said most of the ISPA patients were children aged between 1 and 4. “We have asked community health centers to call on people to wear masks,” he said as quoted by Antara news agency.
While many authorities have stressed the importance of wearing masks to avoid respiratory illnesses, many people are reportedly reluctant to use them.
Many residents, including mothers with babies, in Solok, West Sumatra, were seen not to be wearing masks. “There has been distribution of masks [by the local government], but people don’t want to wear them,” Syahril, a resident, said.
Students in Pekanbaru were also reportedly reluctant to wear masks for long periods, claiming they caused breathing difficulties.
The air pollution has continued to get worse, reaching “dangerous” levels in Sawahlunto, West Sumatra, on Tuesday.
Sawahlunto Environment Agency head Iwan Kartiwan said the air pollution standard index (ISPU) had touched the “dangerous” level as the haze density was recorded at 347 micrograms per cubic meter of air (µg/m3).
“We have reported the data to the city’s health agency and the disaster mitigation agency for them to take measures,” Iwan said
According to the ISPU, a haze density level between 101 and 199 µg/m3 is categorized as “unhealthy”, while between 200 and 300 µg/m3 is “very unhealthy” and over 300 µg/m3 is “dangerous”.
North Sumatra Environment Agency also reported that the air quality had been deteriorating in many areas in the province on Tuesday. “Air pollution in Medan and surrounding areas is the worst because of the haze that continues to blanket North Sumatra,” said agency head Hidayati.
Besides causing illnesses, the haze also disrupted flights in some small airports in North Sumatra, including Aek Godang Airport in Padang Sidempuan regency.
Visibility at the airport amounted to 500 meters at 11 a.m. on Tuesday.
The haze has been blamed on smoke from peat land and forest fires in South Sumatra.
— Syofiardi Bachyul JB contributed to the story from Solok, West Sumatra.
Garuda Remains Upbeat Despite Haze Disruptions
Laila Ramdhini and Rausyan Fikry Jakarta Globe 7 Oct 15;
Jakarta. The chief of Indonesia’s flag carrier Garuda Indonesia remains optimistic that the airline can earn a profit in the third quarter of 2015, despite its recent spate of flight cancellations due thick haze blanketing Sumatra and Kalimantan.
Garuda booked a net income of $29.3 million in this year's January-June period, on the back of increased sales and lower costs. That was a major improvement compared to the $201.3 million loss it recorded in the same period last year.
Garuda president director Arief Wibowo told journalists at a media visit to BeritaSatu Media Holdings in Jakarta that he felt assured the airline's third quarter financial report will be in the black, but declined to provide details.
Still, he admitted that “July, August, September were very tough” months for Garuda, with a large number of flights disrupted by forest fires and the eruption of Mount Raung in East Java.
The company was forced to to cancel 1,870 flights in the three-month period, while its low-cost carrier unit Citilink cancelled 600 due to thick haze.
Airports at Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan, and Jambi and Pekanbaru in Riau were among the worst hit by the haze
Arif pointed out that airports at Palangkaraya (Central Kalimantan), Jambi, and Pekanbaru (Riau) ̶̶ where Garuda has substantial operations ̶̶ are among the worst hit by the haze.
“Canceling a flight can result in considerable losses, from catering costs, fees for the cabin crew, burned fuel and wasted flight slots,” said Handayani, Garuda commercial director.
Aviation rivals from neighboring countries such as Malaysia have been better able to cope with the region's haze crisis as their airports are far better equipped compared to their Indonesian counterparts, said Garuda operational director Novianto Herupratomo.
“If only our airports had an instrument landing system, which helps assists landings [in] visibility levels of 800 meters,” he said.
Indonesia needs better aircraft for water-bombing operations
Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja, Strait Times AsiaOne 7 Oct 15;
Indonesia said it needs aircraft capable of hauling more water and flying farther, to put out forest fires which cause the haze that has been spreading throughout the region.
The country's disaster management agency, BNPB, yesterday said it is open to assistance from neighbours Singapore and Malaysia in acquiring larger water-bombers such as the Russian-made Beriev Be-200 or the CL-245 from Canada.
This came after talks to land those aircraft from the Russians and Canadians stalled in recent weeks.
"If Singapore or Malaysia have better access, they are welcome to help bring such aircraft here because Indonesia needs them," said BNPB spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho. "Any other country is also welcome to help."
Dr Sutopo's comments come after forest and land fires raging in Sumatra and Kalimantan intensified over the last few days, producing a thick haze that has since spread beyond Singapore and Malaysia, reaching the skies of Cebu in the Philippines, and Thailand.
The scale of the fires has reached a stage where emergency workers require better equipment, said Dr Sutopo, referring to the two amphibious planes that are purpose-built for fighting fires over sprawling landscapes.
The CL-245, or its newer variant the CL-415, is able to fly with more than 6,000 litres of water, while the the larger Beriev can carry more than twice that amount.
Most helicopters being used in water-bombing operations across Indonesia now can haul about only half a tonne of water, which is rougly equivalent to500 litres.
Haze from forest fires suspected to have been started by people trying to clear land for cultivation of crops like oil palms, using outlawed slash- and-burn techniques, have sent air pollution levels soaring, at times, to hazardous levels.
Singapore was one of the first of Indonesia's neighbours to offer its assistance, which comprised a firefighting team, a C-130 aircraft for cloud seeding and a Chinook helicopter equipped with a water bucket for aerial firefighting.
Malaysia has also offered aircraft to help douse the fires.
Indonesia initially turned down their offers but recently said it welcomes the help and would turn to them when the time arrives.
Dr Sutopo said his government had reached out to the Canadian embassy in Jakarta and also the Russian ambassador to Indonesia for the aircraft, but to no avail.
That was because they have already been deployed for firefighting operations elsewhere, he added.
The Indonesian government has been under pressure at home and abroad to resolve this decades-old crisis, which has affected more than 28 million of its people.
According to government estimates, the forest fires and haze have cost Indonesia between $30 billion and $47.5 billion.
The Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) in Palangkaraya - the capital of Central Kalimantan where schools were forced to close for more than three weeks - peaked at almost 1,000 at 9am yesterday, before falling to 331 at 8pm, just under the hazardous level of 350.
South Sumatra and Central Kalimantan have been the two provinces where most of the firefighting and haze mitigation efforts have been focused due to the severity of the conditions there.
Firefighting operations in Ogan Komering Ilir regency, one of the worst-hit areas in South Sumatra, have seen "very slow progress", said BNPB chief Willem Rampangilei yesterday afternoon.
South Sumatra, which saw thousands of hot spots emerge in recent days, now has almost 3,700 troops on the ground fighting fires. Another region of concern was East Kalimantan.
The absence of clouds over Indonesia has restricted cloud-seeding operations, while some helicopters were grounded yesterday because of the low visibility caused by thick haze, said Mr Willem.
