Indonesia: President calls for peatland moratorium after 10 killed by haze

Dandy Koswaraputra, thejakartapost.com 23 Oct 15;

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said in a cabinet meeting on Friday that there would be no more licensing for peatland concessions because he wanted to overcome the haze dilemma that has caused 10 deaths.

“I ask the environment and forestry minister not to give any more licenses for peatland areas,” Jokowi asserted while leading the cabinet meeting.

The number of victims from the haze blanketing Sumatra and Kalimantan continues to rise, as the government is rolling out a plan to evacuate people in the worst-affected areas.

“In this cabinet meeting we are talking about further steps for evaluating the handling of forest fires and how to evacuate the affected people in the smog-blanketed areas,” Jokowi said.

The president said that a one-map policy must be implemented to overcome the disaster as soon as possible, and at the same time reviewing concessions in all peatland areas.

“Those ministers who are in charge of this matter must go down to the field and handle the problems directly,” he asserted.

The government is mulling drastic measures because of the seriousness of the situation in some areas.

Greenpeace however criticized the policy, urging the government to take more concrete action beyond the moratorium of peatland.

“The government should fully protect peatland, including restoring degraded peatland,” Bustar Maitar, the global head for the Indonesia Forest Campaign in Greenpeace International, told thejakartapost.com.

Similar to Greenpeace, the managing director at Sustainability and Stakeholder Engagement Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) Aida Greenbury said that the moratorium alone would not be a solution.

According to Aida, the solution is a landscape approach, which use science to determine hydrology management and to ensure green growth while mitigating environmental risks and engaging and embracing the community in the supply chain, such as in agroforestry programs.

“We have made progress with the peat landscape approach, and would be grateful if it were used as a pilot,” Aida said.

The Environment and Forestry Ministry has said that up to 90 percent of this year’s forest fires were caused by humans. The hot spots in Sumatra and Kalimantan, which covered 1,697 hectares, were owned by 413 companies, 227 of which were held with forest concession permits and 186 of which were owned by plantation companies.

On Tuesday, the ministry declared Central Kalimantan as the region with the highest level of Air Pollution Standard Index (ISPU), at 1,950 -- far above the hazardous threshold, which is between 300 and 500.

Four units of Air Tractors and BE-200 from Australia and Russia arrived in South Sumatra on Thursday to help tackle the fires.

Previously, the government refused to receive foreign aid on the matter, but later decided to welcome it, including assistance from Singapore, Malaysia, Russia, China and Australia.

Yet, National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) head Willem Rampangilei said on Thursday that foreign aid did not provide a significant impact due to the short duration of the assistance.

He added that in addition to the foreign aid, the government had also rented 19 helicopters and three Air Tractors. It was currently looking to rent other aircraft, but it was difficult due to the effect of El Nino in many countries.

“The El Nino is occurring everywhere so many countries rented [the aircraft] first,” said Willem.(++++)


RI still vulnerable as haze crisis, fires remain unbeaten
Apriadi Gunawan, Syofiardi Bachyul Jb and Syamsul Huda M. Suhari, The Jakarta Post 23 Oct 15;

With land and forest fires spreading to almost all of the country’s major islands, more residents are struggling to not only survive amid deteriorating air quality but also anticipate further impacts of the disaster on the local environment.

In Jambi, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) reported that the concentration of particulate matter (PM10) in the city stood at 738.41 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m³) on Thursday morning, confirming the air quality in the city has been at alarming levels in recent weeks.

“I’m planning to take my four children to Padang [West Sumatra] and let them stay at their grandmother’s house. I am afraid that the thick smoke here will affect their health,” Ningsih, a local resident, told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Authorities consider air quality “good” if its PM10 concentration stands below 50 µg/m³, “moderate” when the level stands between 50 and 150 µg/m³, “unhealthy” between 150 and 250 µg/m³, “very unhealthy” between 250 and 3500 µg/m³ and “hazardous” when it surpasses 350 µg/m³.

In the neighboring West Sumatra province, haze with a different level of intensity also blanketed many areas on Thursday.

In the provincial capital of Padang, visibility dropped to 500 meters.

Padang BMKG station spokesperson Budi Iman Samiaji said the PM10 concentration in several regions in the eastern part of the province, including Dharmasraya and Sawahlunto, had been recorded at around 1,000 µg/m³, forcing local authorities to temporarily shut down schools since Wednesday.

Meanwhile in North Sumatra, Kualanamu International Airport spokesperson Wisnu Budi Setianto said that thick smoke had paralyzed almost all airports within the province and neighboring Aceh province on Thursday.

“Visibility in many North Sumatran airports stood at below 400 meters. This is the worst situation we have ever experienced,” Wisnu told the Post on Thursday.

Apart from Jambi, West Sumatra and North Sumatra, Riau, South Sumatra and Central Kalimantan are among the provinces hardest hit by the air pollution originating from fires in peatland and plantations.

In Riau, for example, visibility in Rengat and Pelawan was recorded at 50 meters and 80 meters, respectively, on Thursday according to Pekanbaru BMKG station spokesperson Slamet Riyadi.

The ongoing disaster has also been exacerbated by this year’s long dry season, triggered by the El Niño weather phenomenon.

Last week, Health Minister Nila Djuwita Anfasa Moeloek reported that the haze had caused 425,377 people from six worst-affected provinces to suffer from acute respiratory infections.

The haze crisis has also recently spread to eastern parts of Indonesia.

In Palu, Central Sulawesi, haze that enveloped the city on Thursday disrupted flights scheduled to depart from or arrive at Mutiara SIS Aljufri Airport, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded.

“I prefer to go home rather than just sitting at the airport’s café without clarity,” said passenger Astrid Sandagang.

Meanwhile in Papua, smoke produced by land and forest fires in the southern part of the province also continued blanketing Timika, the capital of Mimika regency.

“I hoped to see a bright day and inhale clean air when waking up this morning. It turned out that the sky was still dark, covered by smoke,” local resident Hermanto told the Post.

BMKG Region V Jayapura on Thursday detected 744 hot spots in Papua, with most spotted in Merauke and Mappi regencies.

Meanwhile in Gorontalo, head of the local Natural Resource Conservation Agency (BKSDA) Syamsuddin Hadju said a recent fire had burned at least 26.5 hectare of a 112.5 ha conservation forest in Tangale Nature Reserve, Tibawa district, Gorontalo regency.

Rizal Harahap in Pekanbaru, Ruslan Sangadji in Palu and Nethy Dharma Somba in Jayapura also contributed to this article


Indonesian Navy to use warships to evacuate smog victims
Antara 23 Oct 15;

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesian Navy has prepared two Landing Platform Dock (LPD) type vessels, a floating hospital KRI dr Suharso-990 and KRI Banda Aceh-593, to evacuate smog victims in Sumatera and Kalimantan (Borneo).

"We will make available the ships to serve as temporary shelter, especially for infants and children, till the air condition becomes better," Head of Indonesian Navy PR Department, First Admiral M. Zainudin stated here, on Friday.

People will be evacuated via ships if air pollution standard index (ISPU) in the affected areas reaches worrying levels due to smog, he added.

He explained that the decision to mobilize LPD type warships was based on the government policy issued by Minister for Coordinator of Politics, Law and Security, Gen. (ret.) Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan.

The policy said in order to handle the smog disaster, the government will focus on evacuating residents, especially infants and children.

"It is possible that the infants and children are housed in the vessels for a few days to prevent them from falling victims to the thick smog," he noted.

While KRI Banda Aceh-593 from the Military Seaborne Command (Kolinlamil) has been stationed in Palembang, South Sumatera, KRI dr Suharso-990 from Eastern Fleet Support Command (Satban Koarmatim) has been stationed in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan.

"The main focus in this operation is evacuating the children and infants from areas affected by smog. Technical aspects will be coordinated with the Ministry of Social affairs and Ministry of Health," he explained.

Besides mobilizing warships, Indonesian Navy has also deployed the Marine Corps personnel to extinguishing the ongoing fire at certain hotspots.

The Marines continue to be at the locations that suffered in the ongoing forest and land fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

They are working together with the Indonesian Army, Air force, Indonesian Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), Indonesias National Agency for Disaster Management (BNPB), and other community outfits(*)


President issues instructions on handling forest fires
Antara 23 Oct 15;

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has issued several instructions on efforts to tackle land and forest fires during a limited cabinet meeting here on Friday, according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).

"The president stated that the haze disaster arising due to forest and land fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan is still at a dangerous level," Head of BNPBs Information Center and Public Relations Sutopo Purwo Nugroho stated here on Friday.

The presidents instructions included an order to the environment and forestry minister to stop issuing licenses for the exploitation of peatland areas and start conducting land revitalization. The land areas for which permits have been granted should soon be reviewed.

"Besides this, the president also ordered to maintain peatland areas, which have not yet been cultivated. The ecosystem in peatland areas should be restored and put in order again," he remarked.

With regard to short-term handling measures, Sutopo said the president had urged the ministers to conduct onfield monitoring.

"The plan to conduct evacuation should be carried out soon. The haze victims should not necessarily be evacuated to areas outside the city or to other regions. They could be moved to offices of the district heads or mayors or offices of the regional governments to provide assistance to infants and weak victims," he explained.

Jokowi also urged to prepare rooms equipped with air-purifying devices to prevent smoke from entering the houses and to provide health services to the people.

It is difficult to evacuate victims to areas outside the city or other regions as their livelihood would be affected. The president has ordered the health minister to mobilize health facilities by involving the private sector and people.

The education minister was also instructed to pacify school children in the face of the impending state examination as they had been allowed to stay home for some time. The teachers, parents, and students need to be pacified to allay any tensions or anxieties as the date of the examination was nearing.

"The president has supported the deployment of people to help overcome the haze and has urged the National Defense Forces, the National Police, ministries, and other state agencies to jointly overcome forest and land fires," he affirmed.

The BNPB has recorded a total of 2,742 hotspots of forest, peatland, and plantation fires across Indonesia on Thursday.

Of the total hotspots, Papua had 744, South Sumatra 703, Central Kalimantan 462, West Kalimantan 290, and East Kalimantan 153, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, the spokesman of the BNPB, remarked here on Thursday.

"Thick haze is still shrouding Sumatra, Kalimantan, and parts of Papua," he noted.

The haze has also reduced visibility in the affected regions.

"This morning, the visibility was 1.2 thousand meters in Padang, 50 meters in Pekanbaru, 700 meters in Jambi, one thousand meters in Palembang, 400 meters in Pontianak, 300 meters in Ketapang, and 100 meters in Palangkaraya," he stated.

The pollutant standard index in Riau, Jambi, West Kalimantan, and Central Kalimantan has reached a hazardous level. In Palembang, South Sumatra, the index reached a very unhealthy level, while in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, it was at an unhealthy level.

The fact that residents of the haze-affected regions have been exposed to hazardous smoke is a matter of grave concern.

The BNPB has been working hard to put out the fires through land and aerial operations by conducting water bombing and inducing artificial rains.(*)


President holds meeting to discuss haze problem
Antara 23 Oct 15;

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) held a limited cabinet meeting with relevant ministers on Friday to discuss the haze problem plaguing the country and its impacts.

"During the limited meeting, chaired by the president, the cases of land and forest fires and their impacts were discussed," Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung stated here on Friday.

He said President Jokowi had decided to intensify efforts to control land and forest fires under the coordination of the chief minister for political, legal and security affairs.

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Luhut Panjaitans earlier plan to join President Jokowi during his state visit to the United States was cancelled as he was tasked with the responsibility of handling the forest and land fire extinguishing operations in the field.

"The coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs should fly tomorrow along with the education minister, health minister, social affairs minister, and other officials to Kalimantan," Pramono noted.

According to the cabinet secretary, the political, legal and security affairs minister is coordinating with 21 agencies to reduce the impact of fires. They comprise members from the coordinating ministerial level down to district head and mayoral levels. The ranks also covers members from the ministerial level, the Defense Forces (TNI), and National Police.

In conducting his tasks, the chief political, legal and security minister is directly answerable to the president and is expected to simplify the process.

The president also urged the coordinating minister for peoples empowerment and culture to formulate steps relating to education, health, social, and other areas.

In the meantime, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has recorded a total of 2,742 hotspots of forest, peatland, and plantation fires across Indonesia on Thursday.

Of the total hotspots, Papua had 744, South Sumatra 703, Central Kalimantan 462, West Kalimantan 290, and East Kalimantan 153, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, the spokesman of the BNPB, said here on Thursday.

"Thick haze is still shrouding Sumatra, Kalimantan, and parts of Papua," he noted.

The haze has also reduced visibility in the affected regions.

"This morning, the visibility was 1.2 thousand meters in Padang, 50 meters in Pekanbaru, 700 meters in Jambi, one thousand meters in Palembang, 400 meters in Pontianak, 300 meters in Ketapang, and 100 meters in Palangkaraya," he added.

The pollutant standard index in Riau, Jambi, West Kalimantan, and Central Kalimantan has reached a hazardous level. In Palembang, South Sumatra, the index reached a very unhealthy level, while in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, it was at an unhealthy level.

The fact that inhabitants of the haze-hit regions have been exposed to dangerous smoke is a matter of grave concern.

The BNPB has been working hard to put out the fires through land and aerial operations by conducting water bombing and inducing artificial rains.(*)


Jokowi holds closed meeting on smog countermeasures
thejakartapost.com 23 Oct 15;

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is set to hold a closed meeting on smog countermeasures at his office at 10 a.m. on Friday amid the continuing disaster of the forest and land fires in several parts of the country.

On Thursday, Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said the government had not yet named the smog as a national disaster due to legal issues.

“We don’t want to discuss national disaster status, since that involves legal issues. But we can assure an all out handling and mobilization of all resources as instructed by President [Joko] Jokowi [Widodo],” said Luhut.

He added that local government heads had been given the authority to decide when their residents should be evacuated.

Separately, several community institutions such as the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) and the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) refused to name the haze a disaster, since it was caused by humans, not nature.

Previously, the Environment and Forestry Ministry stated that up to 90 percent of this year’s forest fires were caused by humans. The total hot spot areas in Sumatra and Kalimantan, which reached 1,697 hectares, were owned by 413 companies, in which 227 of them were held with forest concession permits and 186 of were are owned by plantation companies.

On Tuesday, the ministry declared Central Kalimantan as the region with the highest level of Air Pollution Standard Index (ISPU), at 1,950 -- far above the hazardous threshold, which is between 300 and 500.

Four units of Air Tractors and BE-200 from Australia and Russia arrived in South Sumatra on Thursday to help tackle the fires.

“The four aircraft have landed and departed through the Depati Amir airport [in Bangka] and are ready to supply water from the waters of Bangka Belitung to help with the fire extinguishing efforts,” said Bangka Belitung Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) spokesperson, Teguh Pratama, as quoted by Antara news agency.

Previously, the government refused to receive foreign aid on the matter, but later decided to welcome it, including assistance from Singapore, Malaysia, Russia, China and Australia.

Yet, National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) head Willem Rampangilei said on Thursday that foreign aid did not provide a significant impact due to the short duration of the assistance.

“There are contributions, but if compared to what we have already done, they are not very significant,” said Willem as quoted by tempo.co.

He added that in addition to the foreign aid, the government had also rented 19 helicopters and three Air Tractors. It was currently looking to renting other aircraft, but it was difficult due to the effect of El Nino in many countries.

“The El Nino is occurring everywhere so many countries rented [the aircraft] first,” said Willem. (kes)(++++)


Indonesia to decide whether to declare national emergency over forest fires, haze
Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Luhut Pandjaitan said the government would conduct a review before making a decision.
Saifulbahri Ismail Channel NewsAsia 23 Oct 15;

JAKARTA: Indonesia will decide soon whether it is necessary to declare the current forest fires and haze crisis a national emergency.

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Luhut Pandjaitan said the government would conduct a review before making a decision.

Mr Luhut was speaking to reporters on Friday (Oct 23) after he and other ministers met President Joko Widodo to discuss the haze issue before the president’s departure for the United States on Saturday.

Mr Luhut has pulled out of the US trip to oversee the crisis in Indonesia. He is expected to travel to Kalimantan on Saturday to assess the situation on the ground.

"But I wish to tell you that the actions that have been taken are at the level of a national emergency because we know that the people cannot wait anymore. We have already prepared our warships and other state-owned vessels to act as temporary shelters in Sumatra and Kalimantan," he said.

The ships, however, will only be used as a last resort if other efforts, including moving residents to government offices with air purifiers, prove unsuccessful, Mr Luhut added.

Indonesia earlier this month had asked several countries, including neighbouring Singapore and Malaysia and far-flung Russia, for aid, equipment and personnel to help combat the fires.

Noting the success of Russia's Be200 water bomber, Mr Luhut said he had requested similar aircraft assistance from Canada, the United States and France.

- CNA/Reuters/al


Haze victims to move to ships
Hans Nicholas Jong, The Jakarta Post 23 Oct 15;

As the number of victims from the haze blanketing Sumatra and Kalimantan continues to rise, the government is rolling out a plan to evacuate people living in the worst-affected areas to the sea.

A meeting at the Office of the Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister on Wednesday agreed on the evacuation plan, which would first target babies and children, who are prone to sickness from the hazardous haze particles.

Late on Wednesday, 9-year-old Pekanbaru resident Ramadhani Lutfi Aerli passed away from an acute respiratory tract infection, bringing the death toll from this year’s haze crisis to 10.

“We are leaning toward evacuating [those in] regions with an Air Pollution Standard Index [ISPU] that has passed the safe level. We are discussing it and will arrive at a decision today or tomorrow,” Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said on Thursday.

The government is mulling the drastic measure because of the seriousness of the situation in some areas. “I heard that in Central Kalimantan the situation is extremely dire,” Luhut said.

Luhut also said the government was resigned to the possibility that the situation would not get better within the next five weeks as the current El Niño weather phenomenon will last until the end of the year, with many scientists predicting it could become one of the worst on record.

“We have a critical five-week period that forces us to take action immediately,” Luhut said. “The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency [BMKG] reported that there is a slim chance of rain until the end of November. From our satellite images, the fires start on peat land with a depth of between five and 10 meters. Therefore, water bombing alone will not be enough to extinguish the fires,” he said.

As dozens of fixed-wing water bombers and more than 20,000 personnel try to extinguish rampant land and forest fires, which have razed 1.7 million hectares of land in Indonesia this year, as many as 450,000 people have fallen victim to the haze, suffering from acute respiratory ailments.

With 500 more people becoming ill from the haze every week, the government has said there might be no other solution apart from evacuating people.

“We might evacuate [people] to the southern region which may have a lower ISPU. Probably in Banjarmasin [South Kalimantan],” Luhut said.

South Kalimantan has the lowest ISPU level among regions engulfed by the haze in Sumatra and Kalimantan, with Central Kalimantan being the highest.

“If the ISPU [in the south] is also severe, then they will be evacuated to ships,” said Luhut. “We will probably use ships owned by the Indonesian Military [TNI] or state-owned shipping firm PT Pelayaran Nasional Indonesia [Pelni] for the next four to five months to house the residents.”

Social Affairs Minister Khofifah Indar Parawansa said that her ministry was ready to prepare logistics for the evacuation once the government gave the go-ahead for the plan.

“There is a training center run by the Social Affairs Ministry in Banjarmasin with 250 rooms. It could accommodate 250 families. We will use this if there’s a decision to evacuate people from Central Kalimantan,” she said.

The government also plans to set up air-tight spaces for evacuees to live in.

“So these air-tight tents mean that there is no air coming in from outside, but the tents use air purifiers,” Health Minister Nila F. Moeloek told a press briefing at her office on Thursday. “We will send another five shelters to Palangkaraya [Central Kalimantan].”

She said there were already three shelters set up in Palangkaraya, and several others in Riau.

With so many government agencies involved in the haze mitigation effort, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is expected to issue a presidential instruction (Inpres) on the handling of the disaster, which would serve as legal protection for the ministries in their efforts.

“The President will issue the Inpres [...] to provide a legal umbrella for these activities,” Luhut said.

Meanwhile, National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) chief Willem Rampangilei said that foreign assistance had not helped much in putting out the fires.

“Even though Australia sent its planes with big capacities of 15,000 liters, capable of conducting five water bombings a day, that just lasted for five days as they had to go back to their country because Australia also had forest fires,” he said on Thursday. “The only foreign assistance left now is from Singapore with one helicopter carrying 5 tons of water. So while there is foreign assistance, it’s not significant as it only lasted for a short period of time.”


Indonesia prepares warships to evacuate "haze" refugees
Reuters 23 Oct 15;

JAKARTA, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Indonesia is preparing warships as a last resort to evacuate children and others suffering from smoke inhalation from slash-and-burn fires, a minister said on Friday, as the country struggles to contain fires expected to continue for weeks.

Southeast Asia has suffered for years from annual "haze" caused by forest and peat clearing across Indonesia, which has come under increasing political pressure to stop the problem, but so far to no avail.

Fires this year have been helped by drier weather brought by the El Nino weather phenomenon and have pushed air pollution to hazardous levels across Southeast Asia, forcing schools to close and disrupting flights.

"We are looking for a place for babies to be evacuated to if necessary," coordinating security minister Luhut Pandjaitan told reporters referring to plans to prepare six warships and two state-owned ferries.

The ships, however, will only be used as a last resort if other efforts, including moving residents to government offices with air purifiers, prove unsuccessful, Pandjaitan said.

The former general, who has been tasked by President Joko Widodo to oversee the response to the haze, said the country was treating the issue as a national disaster but stopped short of declaring a state of national emergency.

Indonesia earlier this month asked several countries, including neighbouring Singapore and Malaysia and far-flung Russia, for aid, equipment and personnel to help combat the fires.

Noting the success of Russia's Be200 water bomber, Panjaitan said he had requested similar aircraft assistance from Canada, the United States and France.

The fires are spreading to new areas like Papua and are unlikely to be put out till next year, experts say.

Widodo said no new permits would be given to plantation companies to develop peatland, and that the government would work to restore and re-irrigate drained peatland areas that are often hit by fires.

"This situation is having a major impact and has reached very unhealthy levels," he said, referring to thousands of fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

Garuda said the haze had cost the state airline about $8 million in lost sales and other expenses, with 120,000 passengers cancelling flights last month alone. (Reporting by Jakarta bureau; Writing by Fergus Jensen; Editing by Nick Macfie)


Police to soon probe firms involved in land fires
Antara 23 Oct 15;

Pekanbaru, Riau (ANTARA News) - The Riau Provincial Police will soon investigate several companies for their alleged involvement in land and forest fires in the province.

"Right now, we have five special teams to investigate the cases of land and forest fires. These teams will continue to assist district police stations in conducting investigation," Chief of the Riau Provincial Police, Brigadier General Dolly Bambang Hermawan, said here on Friday.

It takes a long time and a lengthy procedure to investigate land fires in the concessions of timber estate and oil palm plantation companies, he said.

Citing an example, he said before the police could name PT Langgam Inti Hibrindo and PT Palm Lestari Makmur as suspects in land and forest fires, investigators must question several expert witnesses.

"There are corporate, environmental and plantation experts. We must find them in Jakarta, Bogor and Medan. Their number is very limited while at the same time, six provincial police stations are also handling the same cases," he said.

Dolly said to accelerate investigations into companies allegedly involved in land and forest fires, the Riau provincial police have set up five special teams which are focusing on law enforcement.

"The teams will cooperate with the district police units," he said.(*)


Central Kalimantan’s ex-governor legally allowed burning plantation land
Merdeka.com reports: A decree - which was enacted in 2010 - by ex-governor Agustin Teras Narang stipulated that a farmer or a company is allowed to clear the land by burning.
Channel NewsAsia 24 Oct 15;

JAKARTA: A Central Kalimantan's governor's decree, which was enacted in 2010, stipulated that a farmer or a company is allowed to clear the land by burning.

"Every person doing land and yard clearance by limited and controlled burning should get permission from authorised officials as mentioned on the attachment in the decree," the decree said.

For land under five hectares, an individual should get permission from the community leader and sub-district's head. Each sub-district is only allowed to burn as much as 100 hectares in total, while for a village, it is 25 hectares.

Central Kalimantan's former governor, Agustin Teras Narang, has - through his Facebook account - refused the accusation that the decree he created is causing the forest fires in Kalimantan island.

"The decree was meant to control the worst forest fire that happened in 2007. Since the decree was enacted until my retirement in August, there were no burning in the forest," he said.

When contacted by merdeka.com, Teras said that he already warned Indonesian President Joko Widodo on the potential damage of forest burning related to Mr Widodo's programme on the rehabilitation of 1 million hectares of peatland. "I sent the letter in October last year. But he didn't even know about that letter. And now it's too late," he told merdeka.com.