Basten Gokkon Jakarta Globe 15 Oct 15;
Jakarta. Indonesian religious leaders have denounced the setting of fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan that have razed vast tracts of rainforest and generated choking haze that has spread as far as Singapore and Malaysia.
“We must crush all parties who burn our forests,” I Nyoman Udayana Sangging, a member of the Indonesia Hindu Dharma Association (PHDI), said at a discussion in Jakarta on Thursday.
“Protecting the Earth is our responsibility,” he added. “It’s a sin if we don’t care about the environment.”
The fires, lit to clear farmland for monoculture crops such as oil palms, are an annual problem, but have been particularly dire this year, thanks to a combination of an unusually severe dry season and the onset of the El Niño weather phenomenon.
At Thursday’s gathering, representatives of eight major religious organizations – including the Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI), the Supreme Council for the Confucian Religion in Indonesia (Matakin), and Nahdlatul Ulama – took a united stand against the slash-and-burn clearing of forests and its attendant problems, in particular the haze.
Police have charged 217 people in connection with setting the fires, which so far this year have destroyed 1.38 million hectares of forest – an area 20 times the size of Singapore.
Nadjamuddin Ramly, an official from the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI), the country’s highest Islamic clerical body, condemned the suspects for “being greedy by continuously expanding their concession areas while abandoning the ecological impacts.”
“Many big companies want to profit immensely from their businesses by practicing low-cost actions like burning forests,” he said.
Among the suspects are officials from 10 plantation companies, including subsidiaries of some of Indonesia’s biggest conglomerates, such as the Sinarmas Group.
The MUI previously issued a fatwa, or edict, with the then-Forestry Ministry (now the Environment and Forestry Ministry) prohibiting the destruction of endangered wildlife habitat.
Suhadi Sendjaja, a deputy chairman of the Indonesian Buddhist Council (Walubi), warned that “bad karma” would befall those who intentionally harmed the environment.
“Nature will provide protection for us if we in turn protect it,” he said.
Abdul Mu’ti, the secretary general of Muhammadiyah, one of Indonesia’s biggest Islamic organizations, said protecting the Earth from destructive practices was a means of worshiping God.
“Saving the Earth means saving our lives, and that’s everybody’s task,” he said.
More than 35,000 people in six provinces – Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan and South Kalimantan – have been treated for respiratory complaints as a result of the the toxic smog as officials declare a state of emergency in affected areas.
The government has deployed nearly 30,000 soldiers, policemen and firefighting personnel to try to put out the fires, while Singapore and Australia have offered their help in aerial water bombardments.
Dousing the wildfires is expected to cost Indonesia at least Rp 1 trillion ($74 million); President Joko Widodo has demanded that all the hot spots be put out before the end of this month.
Haze crisis, extended dry season leave farmers on the brink
Syamsul Huda M. Suhari and Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, The Jakarta Post 15 Oct 15;
The absence of rain in many parts of the country over the past several months has disrupted rice production, leading to low harvest yields.
In Gorontalo, farmers in Bone Bolango regency have been struggling to provide proper irrigation to their fields, as the region has received no rain for four months.
Abdullah Ali, a farmer from North Toto subdistrict, said the water crisis had cost him dearly.
“My 2,500-square-meter rice field usually produces around 250 kilograms of rice every harvest time. Earlier this month, however, we could only harvest less than 100 kg of rice from the field because of a lack of irrigation,” he said on Wednesday.
Abdullah, who inherited the field from his late parents, said he had to share the yield with his four siblings. Bringing home only 20 kg of rice, Abdullah said the stock would last his family less than a month.
“It’s utterly ironic. We own a rice field but will end up buying rice from other people,” he said.
Daud Usman, another farmer from the provincial capital of Gorontalo, said this year’s extended dry season had forced him to postpone his plan to replant his fields after the recent harvest season.
“I have no option,” he said. “I have to wait until rain falls [before replanting], as there is not enough water for irrigation,” Daud said.
The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has warned that the dry season this year could last longer than in previous years because of the El Niño weather phenomenon, which affects temperatures and rainfall patterns.
The BMKG predicts that the El Niño effect will extend Indonesia’s dry season, which normally takes place between April and September, until the end of the year.
The prolonged dry season has also affected rice production, with the country expected to miss its rice production target of 45 million tons for the year.
Last month, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) was planning to purchase around 1.5 million tons of rice from Thailand and Vietnam on concerns that rising prices of the country’s main staple food could cause social unrest. The statement, however, was immediately contradicted by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who said that the country’s current rice reserve, which amounted to 1.7 million tons, was still enough to meet demand.
Bulog’s Gorontalo chief F. Sjamsuddin meanwhile confirmed that the extended dry season had hampered efforts to maintain sufficient rice stocks. In September, Sjamsuddin said, his office had been able to buy only 4,000 tons of rice from local farmers, far from the 11,000 tons targeted for the whole month.
This year’s extended dry season has also hampered the government’s efforts to extinguish extensive land and forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan, which have produced thick haze that has severely degraded air quality in many regions over the past several weeks.
In Solok regency, West Sumatra, local coffee farmers reported that they had been struggling to process their harvested coffee beans, as haze has blocked the sunlight needed to dry the beans.
“Our coffee beans cannot be properly sun-dried. Many of them have even been infested with fungus,” said Syafrizal, a farmer from Lembah Gumanti district.
Haze Blamed for Deadly Accident in Central Kalimantan
Barthel B Usi Jakarta Globe 15 Oct 15;
Palangka Raya. Thick haze has been blamed for causing a deadly accident in Central Kalimantan Thursday morning, killing one and injuring seven.
The accident on Babugus Road, Pulang Pisau district, involved a Pajero multipurpose vehicle carrying two people, including the driver, and a shuttle service carrying eight passengers.
According to witnesses, drivers of both vehicles appeared to be avoiding flames from burning plantations on the side of the road.
All victims were taken to Palangka Raya Public Hospital, including one passenger who had been killed instantly.
Worsening haze decreases visibility in North Barito
Thejakartapost.com 15 Oct 15;
The haze blanketing North Barito regency in Central Kalimantan reportedly worsened on Thursday morning with visibility down to only 100 meters.
"The haze got thicker this morning, which resulted in very limited visibility and left us short of breath," said a resident of Muara Teweh district in North Barito, Rahman Hidayat, on Thursday as quoted by Antara news agency.
According to the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) Muara Teweh's spokesperson Sunardi, the region's horizontal visibility on Thursday morning was only 100 meters and its vertical visibility down to 150 feet. Horizontal visibility was still around 200 meters yesterday.
"The weather is hazy with a yellowish color this morning," said Sunardi.
According to the Manggala Agni Muara Teweh firefighting unit spokesperson Aswaludin, hot spots were no longer detected in North Barito by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) 18 and the Terra and Aqua satellites as of Wednesday night.
"The haze probably came from other regions. There are still 15 hot spots in South Barito according to the Terra satellite and two others have been discovered in East Barito," said Aswaludin. (ags/kes)
Australia deploys aerial response team to Sumatra
Antara 15 Oct 15;
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - An aerial response firefighting team departed Australia on Tuesday 13th October to assist Indonesia in its efforts to combat forest fires in South Sumatra.
Two aircraft, a L100 Lockheed C130 Water Tanker (Thor) supported by a Turbo Commander 690B lead plane, have now arrived in Sumatra and commenced operations on Wednesday.
An advance assessment team from Australia arrived in Palembang, Sumatra on Sunday 11 October and is coordinating arrangements on the ground with Indonesian authorities.
The aerial response team will be based out of Palembang.
"I reiterate my gratitude to the NSW Rural Fire Service for its rapid response to Indonesias request for assistance and acknowledge the contribution of Victorian Government personnel to this operation," Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop was quoted by the Australian Embassy here as saying on it official website on Wednesday.
(T.A014/F001)
Tough battle for Singapore team fighting fires in Sumatra
Francis Chan Straits Times AsiaOne 16 Oct 15
A 40-strong team from Singapore helping Indonesia battle the raging forest fires in South Sumatra has achieved some success in reducing the number of hot spots.
Pollutant Standards Index levels, however, continued to fluctuate between hazardous and unhealthy in the province for much of yesterday.
Air pollution levels in Palembang, the capital city of South Sumatra, peaked at a PSI of 530, before falling to 212 later in the evening.
It was worse in Central Kalimantan, the other region badly hit by the haze. The PSI in its capital Palangkaraya rose to 1,200 at 8am, and while this fell to 600 at about 6pm yesterday, it is still way above the hazardous level of 350.
Three aircraft and 34 men from the Singapore Armed Forces were deployed to South Sumatra - one of the worst-hit areas during the ongoing haze crisis - last Saturday.
They were accompanied by a six-man Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF).
The combined force often encountered high levels of air pollution and low visibility.
This makes the firefighting operations all the more challenging, said mission commander Lieutenant-Colonel Vincent Tan, 45.
"The very obvious challenge is the haze itself," he told Cyberpioneer in a report out on Wednesday.
"There are two aspects to it: One is the visibility that affects largely the people who are flying the heli-bucket operations.
"The second aspect is the pollutants in the air that have adverse effects on our people - not just the guys who are flying but on the ground as well."
Their efforts, however, helped reduce the number of hot spots in Sumatra earlier in the week.
On Monday and Tuesday, satellites detected just 156 fires - down from a recent peak of more than 725.
This was attributed to a combination of rain over the region as well as the multilateral firefighting operation in South Sumatra, which is being led by the Indonesians and also involves a team from Malaysia.
Team morale in the Singapore team remains high despite the harsh conditions, said LTC Tan.
"We see the purpose in coming here to help our neighbours.
"The team members are all very well-trained and prepared to undertake the missions that are expected. I'm confident that we will do a good job and, at the end of the operation, return to our families safely."
Lieutenant Samuel Ten, the aerial cargo rigger responsible for securing a 5,000-litre heli-bucket - used by the SCDF to douse fires from the air - to the Chinook helicopter before take-off, said his team is working very well with the Home Team officers.
"In fact, we just completed a good mission today, finding more water sources and landing sites for the helicopter," said the platoon commander of the Air Terminal Company from the 3rd Transport Battalion.
The multilateral water-bombing operation continues this week.
On Wednesday, South Sumatra governor Alex Noerdin visited the combined SAF-SCDF assistance team to thank them for their assistance in resolving the crisis.
In Singapore, Law Minister K. Shanmugam also acknowledged the efforts of the Singaporeans on Facebook.
"Conditions are challenging, with poor visibility and dense haze," said Mr Shanmugam, who is also Minister for Home Affairs.
"The firefighting is taking place in difficult conditions. Our thoughts are with our officers."
