thejakartapost.com 31 Oct 15;
Four airports in Sumatra and Kalimantan are still closed on Saturday due to the thick haze. Meanwhile, authorities in Riau province have said that the haze emergency status will be extended for another month.
Transportation Minister Ignasius Jonan said that his ministry had maintained the closure of four Sultan Mahmud Badarudin II Airport in Palembang, Syamsudin Noor Airport in Banjarmasin, Sutan Thaha Airport in Jambi and Gusti Syamsir Alam Airport in Kota Baru, South Kalimantan.
“From the 35 airports affected by the haze, four are not in operation,” said Jonan at Adisutjipto International Airport in Yogyakarta on Saturday.
According to the minister, many airlines have started to fly to and from Kalimantan and Sumatra airports due to the improved visibility.
Meanwhile, in Pekanbaru, Riau, the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) decided to extend the haze emergency status for another month as there were still hotspots in South Sumatra and significant rainfall has yet to occur.
“All members of the forest firefighting team have agreed that the emergency status will be extended by 30 days to Nov. 30,” said Riau BPBD chairman Edward Sanger on Saturday as reported by tempo.co, adding that the decision was made during a meeting on Friday.
The emergency status, which was set to expire on Nov. 1, was extended in anticipation of the possible emergence of new hotspots in Riau forests, considering that forest fires in South Sumatra have not been extinguished, while rainfall was still unpredictable.
“We coordinated with the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) before extending the emergency status,” Edward said. According to Edward, members of the team increase their efforts to prevent forest fires during the 30 days of extended emergency period. (bbn)(+)
Four killed in East Java forest fire; haze dissipates in Sumatra
Wahyoe Boediwardhana and Syofiardi Bachyul JB, The Jakarta Post 31 Oct 15;
Forest fires have claimed four lives in East Java while the haze that has blanketed Sumatra and Kalimantan has begun to dissipate.
“Four people were burned to death dousing out fires in the pine forest areas of Ponorogo regency, East Java,” National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said on Thursday.
Sutopo said the fire burned up a four-hectare forest belonging to state-owned forestry firm PT Perhutani in Ngilo-ilo village, Slahung district, at 10 a.m.
Sutopo reported that an officer from Perhutani named Suyitno, along with local residents, tried to extinguish the flare.
“At about 12 a.m., while extinguishing the blaze, strong winds suddenly blew in and made the fire bigger,” he said.
A fire-fighting team arrived at the location at 1 p.m. and found that four people were missing. The team then searched for the missing people and found that Suyitno and three other residents, Budianto, Paijun and Jaimun, had perished because of the fire.
“Probably, the victims fainted after inhaling thick black smoke,” said Sutopo.
This is the second time that people have died from a forest fire this month. Last week, climbers perished in a forest fire on Mount Lawu, located on the border region between East and Central Java.
Seven climbers died at the scene while another died three days later after receiving treatment at Dr. Soetomo General Hospital in Surabaya for burns injuries.
Fires have also destroyed protected forests on Mount Bawakaraeng and on Mount Lompobattang in Sulawesi. The prolonged dry season, exacerbated by the El Niño weather phenomenon, is thought by many to have amplified the strength and danger of the fires.
East Java Deputy Governor Saifullah Yusuf led a gathering in Malang to bring awareness to the danger of forest fires and established a forest brigade comprising officers from varied institutions including the police, the military, BNPB, SAR and forest park management.
Syaifullah said the forest brigade had the authority to ban people from clearing land by burning forests.
He said East Java had 1.36 million hectares of forested area, or 28.36 percent of the total size of the province, and that 4.1 percent, or 56,000 hectares, of the forested area had been damaged.
While East Java struggles to extinguish its forest fires, the haze in West Sumatra, Riau, Jambi and South Sumatra is predicted to dissipate after rain begun to pour down over the regions.
The Padang Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency’s (BMKG Padang) observation division head Budi Iman Samiaji said rain could potentially cool the provinces over the next three days.
“The haze will slowly decrease although the rain is not pouring equally over the regions,” Budi said.
Small rain poured down on Padang on Friday and the visibility at Minangkabau International Airport increased from 2,000 meters to 3,000 meters.
The Bukit Koto Tabang branch of the Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) recorded particulate matter (PM10) in many areas in West Sumatra at 77 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m3), which is considered “moderate”.
Authorities consider air quality “good” if its PM10 concentration stands below 50 µg/m3 and “hazardous” when it surpasses 350 µg/m3.
The Dharmasraya regency, which borders with Riau and Jambi, saw its air quality reduce from “dangerous” to “unhealthy” with a PM10 of 166.67 µg/m3 on Friday.
Number of hotspots in Indonesia decrease significantly
Antara 31 Oct 15;
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The number of hotspots in Indonesia has decreased significantly over the last few days.
"The number of hotspots has decreased significantly," a spokesman of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, said here on Saturday.
According to him, the Terra and Aqua satellites on Saturday (October 31) detected 402 hotspots in the country.
"The number of hotspots has dropped to 402 from 2,218 last Saturday," he said.
In addition, thanks to the rain in the past couple of days, the air quality and visibility became better in Sumatra and Kalimantan.
"The visibility in Padang, West Sumatra was 4 kilometers while it was 7 kilometers in Pekanbaru, 2.8 kilometers in Jambi, 800 meters in Palembang, 2 kilometers in Pontianak, 1.5 kilometers in Palangkaraya and 6 kilometers in Banjarmasin," he said.
Meanwhile, the BNPB has seeded 284.9 tonnes of salt (NaCL) in the skies above Sumatra and Kalimantan islands to produce artificial rain as part of the efforts to extinguish forest and land fires in the two regions.
"According to the prediction of Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), the rain intensity had increased between Oct 26 and 31 in Sumatra and Kalimantan," he said.
To ensure even heavier rain, he noted, the government has intensified the operation to induce artificial rain.
Earlier, President Joko Widodo inspected a blocking canal development project in Pulang Pisau Saturday, which is intended to prevent peat land fires in the district.
President Jokowi, as he is also known, and his entourage arrived at the location at around 2 pm after flying in from Jambi, Sumatra, to inspect the handling and impact of forest and land fires in the region.
"A month ago, we had come here and the peat lands were on fire. There used to be no water, so peat lands were easy to burn. Now we have a blocking canal network. This will go right till the Kahiyang River. There will always be water here, infiltrating the peat lands on the left and right sides. This is what will prevent the fire from burning the peat land," he said.
Jokowi entered the peat lands that had been burned, and was accompanied by Forestry and Environment Minister Siti Nurbaya, coordinating ministers Luhut Panjaitan and Puan Maharani and Public Works Minister Basuki Hadimoeljono.
"The work has been carried out for a month. The canal and blocks can already be seen. Later, we will make a similar arrangement at all locations vulnerable to fire," he said.
The project would continue in all provinces in the country to minimize forest and peat land fires, he said.
"The first step is to build canals (to overcome the fire problem). The second one is prevention. So whenever a fire is detected in a district, it is the district that will put it out quickly. But if it has spread to five to ten locations, then it will be the provincial government that must extinguish them. It is the responsibility of the autonomous regions. Only after fires spread and are difficult to overcome will the central government take over," he said.(*)
Haze: Over 500,000 Indonesians Suffer Acute Respiratory Infection
Jakarta Globe 31 Oct 15;
Jakarta. More than 500,000 Indonesians are suffering from acute respiratory infection after having been exposed to fire-induced haze for months, the Natural Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has said.
“There are 529,527 residents living in Sumatra and Kalimantan who have been suffering from the disease. In Jambi, there are 129,229 people ... 115,484 in South Sumatera, 98,029 in South Kalimantan, 79,888 in Riau, 60,225 in Central Kalimantan, and lastly 46,672 in West Kalimantan,” BNPB's spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said on Friday, as quoted by metrotvnews.com.
Those six provinces declared a state of emergency because of the haze months ago.
Sutopo said the number of people affected is actually much higher, as not everybody seeks professional help.
People in the hardest-hit parts of the country are being evacuated to shelters set up by the BNPB and its local branches, and the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI), as efforts to quell the flames continue.
Adding to mounting pressure on the Indonesian government to step up its efforts, the BNPB has called the disaster a "crime against humanity of extraordinary proportions."
President Joko Widodo recently cut short his state visit to the United States to personally oversee haze mitigation efforts in the affected regions.
Minister hands over compensation to haze victims
Antara 31 Oct 15;
Pekanbaru, Riau (ANTARA News) - Social Affairs Minister Khofifah Indar Parawansa handed over a compensation worth Rp15 million to the families of each of those who died from the haze in Riau Province Saturday.
The handing over of the compensation was carried out at the office of the Public Works and Public Housing Service of Riau.
There were four families who received the compensation.
On the occasion the minister stressed the importance of understanding the dangers of haze that came from forest and land fires.
All those who died in Riau passed away not because of direct impact from the haze but from certain diseases which worsened due to the haze.
Therefore, Minister Parawansa called on the local government to publicize the hazardous level of the air pollutant index (ISPU) when the haze became increasingly thick.
"The hazardous level of the ISPU needs to be publicized because each region has different ISPU levels," she said.
Some 529,527 people have suffered from upper respiratory tract infections due to the forest- and land fire-triggered haze that has plagued the country for the past several months, according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).
"The haze plaguing the country has caused upper respiratory tract infections in 529,527 people," Head of Data Information and Public Relations of the BNPB Sutopo Purwo Nugroho noted Friday morning.
The victims were from Sumatra and Kalimantan. There were 60,225 from Central Kalimantan, 79,888 from Riau, 129,229 from Jambi, and 115,484 from South Sumatra, in addition to 46,672 from West Kalimantan, and 98,029 from South Kalimantan.
"The haze victims totaled 529,527 people," he reported.
The data is based on the report received by the BNPB on October 29, 2016, Sutopo remarked.
However, there is a possibility that the actual count could be higher, he affirmed.
This is because some people ailing from diseases did not visit the doctors at the Community Health Care Centers (Puskesma) or the hospitals.
"They perhaps consulted the doctors independently, and were, therefore, not registered," he pointed out.
The government has been making efforts to overcome the haze problem caused by forest and plantation fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan.
The government had also built several "rumah singgah," or shelter houses, at the evacuation sites for the residents exposed to haze, he stated.
The shelter houses are fully equipped with facilities, such as air purifiers and others, which were offered to haze victims for free.(*)
BNPB intensifies cloud seeding efforts to fight fires
thejakartapost.com 31 Oct 15;
The National Disaster Mitigation Agency has used hundreds of tons of salt to intensify its cloud seeding operation to help stimulate rainfall in Sumatra and Kalimantan, an agency spokesman said on Saturday.
BNPB spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said that 284.9 tons of salt had been utilized in the operation to help tackle the fires that have caused the worst haze in Indonesia's history.
"To speed up and increase the rain intensity, the government has intensified the artificial rain operation, especially this time where there are many clouds," he said as quoted by state news agency Antara. He added that the increased efforts were in accordance with President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's wishes.
The toxic smog has covered parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan in the past three months, killing at least 16 people and severely affecting 500,000.
Sutopo added that the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) predicted that the rain intensity had increased between Oct 26 and 31 in Sumatra and Kalimantan.
BMKG also reported that based on Himawari Satellite images the haze distribution had become smaller.
Sutopo said that there were around 354,191 hectares of land burned in Papua, mostly in Merauke and Mappi regencies. (rin)(+)
Two Million Hectares of Indonesian Forests Lost to Fires Since June
Jakarta Globe 31 Oct 15;
Jakarta. More than two million hectares of forest area have been reduced to ashes in the past five months in Indonesia, according to the data published by the National Space and Aviation Agency (Lapan).
The agency said on Friday that based on satellite data collected from June 21 until Oct. 20, an estimated 2,089,911 hectares were gone.
The number is likely to grow, as a large number of forests -- as well as peat lands -- are still fire, causing the ongoing haze crisis, especially in Kalimantan and Sumatra.
“We have compared the data gathered from before and after the fires started,” Parwati Sofan, a senior official at Lapan, told a press conference on Friday at the Natural Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB)'s headquarters in Central Jakarta, as quoted by kompas.com.
Lapan estimates that 832,999 hectares of forests were burned in Sumatra, 806,817 hectares in Kalimantan, 353,191 hectares in Papua, 30,912 hectares in Sulawesi, 30,162 hectares in Bali and Nusa Tenggara, 18,768 in Java, and 17,063 in Maluku.
BNPB spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said that 32 percent of hotspots in the country are currently found in non-concession forest areas, 20 percent in industrial forest areas (HTI), 20 percent in palm oil plantations, and the remainder was found in forest areas used for other purposes.
“Even though the satellite has helped us [collect the data], bear in mind that it cannot scan the forest areas that are covered in thick haze and clouds,” Parwati added. "We expect the number to increase as the data collecting is still underway. We will update the data every ten days."
The BNPB and its local branches have set up numerous shelters for residents of the affected regions.
The Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) on Thursday sent extra ambulances, water trucks, water purifiers, shelters, air purifiers and eye drops to Sumatra and Kalimantan. The PMI has extended its haze emergency response period to January, as the disaster still shows no signs of abating.
Air quality, visibility improve in Sumatra, Kalimantan
Francis Chan and Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja, Straits Times AsiaOne 31 Oct 15;
The sporadic but heavy rainfall since Tuesday, coupled with ramped-up cloud-seeding efforts by Indonesia to create more rain, has finally soothed the ground and cleared the air in Kalimantan and Sumatra.
Not only did air pollution levels fall substantially across the two islands yesterday, but visibility in the skies has also improved.
"With the rainfall over three consecutive days in Sumatra and Kalimantan, the hot spots have been significantly reduced," Dr Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, head of data and information at Indonesia's national disaster management agency (BNPB), said at a press briefing yesterday.
Dr Sutopo said that as of 5am, only 156 hot spots remained in Sumatra. In Kalimantan, there were just four. "A week ago, South Sumatra had 703 hot spots and Kalimantan had 905," he added. Hot spots are technical terms for fires detected in forests or on peatland, typically started by farmers or errant plantation operators to clear land for cultivation.
At the height of the crisis, thousands of such fires, which produced the toxic haze, were spotted in Kalimantan and Sumatra by satellites.
The Indonesian National Institute of Aeronautics and Space said yesterday that the fires behind the smouldering thick haze, which has covered many parts of South-east Asia in recent weeks, have ravaged 2.1 million ha of land in Indonesia.
That is the equivalent of burning the entire island of Singapore almost 30 times over. It is also higher than an earlier estimate of 1.7 million ha revealed by President Joko Widodo.
Yesterday was the second day Mr Joko was back in Indonesia, after he cut short his visit to the United States to oversee the crisis at home.
The President and First Lady Iriana travelled to affected areas in Palembang and Jambi in Sumatra to inspect evacuation centres and other relief shelters. "I saw a good relief shelter where there are medical personnel, medical supplies, so it's complete," he said.
Visibility in Pekanbaru, Riau, reached 3,000m yesterday, while it was 1,400m in Jambi in Central Sumatra. Palangkaraya in Central Kalimantan had visibility of 1,200m despite hazy conditions, while it was as far as 2,500m in Banjarmasin in the south, said Dr Sutopo.
The Sultan Thaha Airport in Jambi reopened yesterday after being closed for the last two months.
The improved visibility is a welcome development for local aviation players, after they suffered thousands of flight cancellations and delays due to the haze.
In the meantime, the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) readings continued to fall across Kalimantan and Sumatra. In Palembang in South Sumatra, the PSI hovered under 200 in the morning before peaking at 258 at noon yesterday. The index peaked at 430 on Thursday.
The PSI reading for Pekanbaru never rose above 77 and was as low as 38 at noon. In Jambi, the PSI peaked at 154, then fell to 20 at noon.
Palangkaraya, for most of yesterday, remained under the 116 level, in the moderate range of the PSI. It was a vast improvement from the four-digit readings that for weeks were the norm for the city.
BNPB has said that if the favourable weather persists, it expects to put out all hot spots by the end of next month or early December. "In the next four days, there will still be an abundant amount of rainfall, according to our forecast," said Dr Sutopo. "So this is our golden opportunity (for more cloud-seeding) because after this four-day window, there is a chance we are going back to drier conditions again."
Indonesian air force chief Agus Supriatna told Kompas news that the government plans to acquire four Beriev Be-200 water bombers. The Russian-made aircraft was found to be more effective in firefighting operations.
Meanwhile, people out and about yesterday at Pasar 26, a traditional market in Palembang, were relieved as conditions improved.
"The market is always open and sees crowds regardless of how bad the haze is," said 51-year-old Saiful, a fish-cracker hawker. "Only now people have more relaxed faces."
