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Today Online 4 Sep 15;
SINGAPORE — Known for its natural, rustic charm, Coney Island will open on Oct 10 to the public, the National Parks Board (NParks) said today (Sept 3).
The 45ha island, which is also known as Pulau Serangoon, is located off the north-eastern coast of Singapore.
It will open at 10am on October 10.
NParks is looking for volunteers to conduct guided walks and other activities such as bird-watching for the public on the day of the opening and the year-end school holidays.
The agency will hold training sessions for volunteers, during which they will learn about the flora and fauna of the island. The island, which is located off Punggol, is known as a stop for migratory birds.
Tender documents released last year revealed that infrastructure on Coney Island includes a bird-watching station, walkways, and solar street lights.
According to the master plan by the Urban Redevelopment Authority, a part of Coney Island is zoned for residential, sport, and recreational use.
Those who would like to volunteer may contact NParks at cin@nparks.gov.sg.
These technologies are aimed at enhancing cost savings and energy efficiency of the used water treatment process at the Tuas Water Reclamation Plant, PUB says.
Channel NewsAsia 7 Sep 15;
SINGAPORE: National water agency PUB is building a demonstration-scale Integrated Validation Plant to test technologies that could potentially be implemented at the future Tuas Water Reclamation Plant.
In a press release on Monday (Sep 7), PUB said these technologies are aimed at enhancing cost savings and energy efficiency of the used water treatment process at the Tuas Water Reclamation Plant.
Slated for completion in February 2017, the demonstration plant will allow PUB to validate the efficacy of the new process innovations planned for the future Tuas plant. The tender for the plant was awarded to Mitsubishi Corporation last month, it added.
Located within PUB’s Ulu Pandan water reclamation plant, the demonstration plant with a capacity of 12,500 cubic meters a day will be designed to be a fully automated plant to reduce the manpower required to operate the plant. It will also serve as a training ground for the operators and to validate parameters for optimum used water treatment, it added.
"The demonstration plant is a living model of the future Tuas WRP to allow us to test and validate the new technologies that will eventually be used at the Tuas WRP. These new and tested technologies will enable Tuas WRP to be more eco-friendly, produce less sludge and have the capability of producing more biogas for power, while consuming lesser energy than conventional plants,” said PUB Chief Technology Officer Harry Seah.
- CNA/kk
PUB to build demo plant for testing water reclamation tech
Today Online 8 Sep 15;
SINGAPORE — National water agency PUB is building a demonstration plant to test cost-saving and energy-efficiency technologies that could be implemented at Tuas Water Reclamation Plant.
Slated for completion in February 2017, the tender for the demonstration plant was awarded to Mitsubishi Corporation last month.
Located within PUB’s water reclamation plant at Ulu Pandan, the fully automated demonstration plant will have a capacity of 12,500 cubic meters a day. It will be a training ground for operators and will also validate parameters for optimal used-water treatment. The water reclamation plant in Tuas will incorporate technologies that improve energy efficiency and manpower requirements.
The Tuas plant is key to Phase 2 of the Deep Tunnel Sewerage System, a network for the collection, treatment, disposal and reclamation of used water. Phase 2 of the sewerage system will cover the west of Singapore.
“These new and tested technologies will enable Tuas Water Reclamation Plant to be more eco-friendly, produce less sludge and have the capability of producing more biogas for power, while consuming lesser energy than conventional plants,” said PUB’s chief technology officer Harry Seah.
Demo plant for PUB to test used water treatment methods
National water agency PUB will build a demonstration plant to test used water treatment technologies to be rolled out at the future Tuas Water Reclamation Plant.
Samantha Boh Straits Times AsiaOne 8 Sep 15;
Construction of the demonstration plant, located within PUB's existing Ulu Pandan Water Reclamation Plant, starts this month and will be done in February 2017.
The demonstration plant will have a capacity of 12,500 cubic m a day, a fraction of the 800,000 cubic m of used water treated daily at the existing Changi Water Reclamation Plant.
While its capacity is relatively small, the fully automated demonstration plant will have all the functions of a typical water reclamation plant.
It will test new water treatment technologies, such as the use of a unique type of bacteria to remove fine particles in used water. It will also be used to train operators of the new technologies.
Mr Harry Seah, PUB's chief technology officer, said in a press release yesterday: "These new and tested technologies will enable Tuas Water Reclamation Plant to be more eco-friendly, produce less sludge and have the capability of producing more biogas for power, while consuming less energy than conventional plants."
The Tuas Water Reclamation Plant, whose completion date has not been confirmed, is a key part of Phase 2 of the Deep Tunnel Sewerage System, an extension of the underground "super highway" carrying Singapore's waste water through sloped tunnels to used water treatment plants.
To be ready by 2022, the extension will carry used water from western Singapore - including the city area - to the Tuas plant, where the water will be treated before it is pumped out to sea or reclaimed as Newater, with the purified water mainly for industrial use.
The 24-hour PSI for the next 24 hours is expected to fluctuate between the high end of the Moderate range and the low end of the Unhealthy range, and may further deteriorate if the winds are unfavourable, says NEA.
Channel NewsAsia 7 Sep 15;
SINGAPORE: Occasional hazy conditions can be expected in the Republic on Tuesday (Sep 8), as prevailing winds are forecast to blow from the south or southwest, said the National Environment Agency (NEA) in a media advisory on Monday.
It added that the 24-hour PSI for the next 24 hours is expected to fluctuate between the high end of the Moderate range and the low end of the Unhealthy range, and may further deteriorate if the winds are unfavourable.
NEA noted that the hazy conditions in Singapore had improved in the morning on Monday. But a slight shift in the prevailing winds in the early afternoon brought back the haze from Sumatra. As at 10pm on Monday, the 24-hour PSI was 79-92, in the high end of the Moderate range.
Widespread moderate to dense smoke haze was observed in central and southern Sumatra on Monday, noted NEA. Haze was also observed to have spread over the Strait of Malacca and parts of the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia.
- CNA/ms
Haze expected to persist, PSI could creep into unhealthy range
Today Online 7 Sep 15;
SINGAPORE — The haze enveloping Singapore is expected to persist tomorrow (Sept 8) with the 24-hour Pollutant Standard Index (PSI) possibly creeping into the low end of the unhealthy (101-200) range, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said today.
Today, haze conditions improved in the morning but air quality deteriorated in the early afternoon as a “slight shift” in prevailing winds saw the return of the haze from Sumatra, said the agency.
The three-hour PSI was 66 at 9am, but worsened swiftly in the afternoon, reaching 99 at 3pm, and 121 at 8pm. As at 10pm today, 24-hour PSI was 79 - 92, in the high end of the moderate (51-100) range, while the three-hour PSI was 115.
Despite the haze, just nine hotspots were detected in Sumatra today. The low hotspot count was due to cloud cover over parts of central Sumatra, as well as partial satellite pass-when the orbiting satellite’s field of view covers just part of a region of interest, the NEA said.
Widespread moderate to dense smoke haze was observed in central and southern Sumatra. Haze was also observed to have spread over the Strait of Malacca and parts of the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia, added the NEA.
Haze conditions have plagued Singapore since last week. Last week, NEA chief executive officer, Mr Ronnie Tay, wrote to his Indonesian counterpart earlier this week to “register Singapore’s concerns” over the situation and seek an urgent update on the situation on the ground.
The NEA said it still expects occassional hazy conditions tomorrow with the PSI fluctuating between the high end of the moderate range and the low end of the unhealthy range. Air quality may decline if the winds are unfavourable, although thundery showers are expected in the late morning and early afternoon.
Given the air quality forecast for the next 24 hours, healthy people should reduce prolonged or strenuous outdoor physical exertion, said the NEA.
The elderly, pregnant women and children should minimise prolonged or strenuous outdoor physical exertion, while those with chronic lung or heart disease should avoid prolonged or strenuous outdoor physical exertion.
Those who are not feeling well, especially the elderly and children, and those with chronic heart or lung conditions, should seek medical attention.
The Star 8 Sep 15;
PETALING JAYA: Over 300 cases of open burning, forest and peat fires nationwide were recorded from Aug 31 to Sept 4.
A check with the Fire and Rescue Department’s website revealed 317 cases for the period.
This is despite the ban on open burning in several states.
Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the order to ban open burning in states such as Selangor, Malacca, Negri Sembilan, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya had been enforced since March last year.
He said the notice prohibits all form of open burning in those areas except for cremation, religious purposes, barbecue and flaring.
“The order is still enforced till today,” he said in a statement yesterday.
Dr Wan Junaidi also said based on the Hysplit Model to predict the haze conditions used by the Malaysian Meteorological Department on Sept 6, smoke from hotspots in south Sumatra is expected to spread across the Straits of Malacca towards the middle of the peninsula.
“The haze is expected to travel across Pahang and to Johor in the next 48 hours.
“The smoke from the hotspots in West Kalimantan is expected to travel to the west of Sarawak and then head towards Sabah in the next 48 hours as well.
“Haze from hotspots in East Kalimantan is expected to move across the east coast of Sabah in the next 24 to 48 hours,” said Dr Wan Junaidi.
Yesterday, seven locations around the country recorded deteriorating air quality according to the DOE’s website.
Among the areas are Muar in Johor, Malacca city as well as Batu Muda and Cheras in Kuala Lumpur.
A hazy Tuesday, with unhealthy API readings in seven areas
RAHMAH GHAZALI The Star 8 Sep 15;
PETALING JAYA: Seven areas in Peninsula Malaysia recorded unhealthy air pollutant index (API) readings as at 8am Tuesday.
Nilai recorded the highest API reading at 135 followed by Bukit Rambai (126), Port Dickson (117), Seremban (114), Batu Muda (112), Malacca (110), and Banting (107).
Several other areas recorded high moderate readings, such as Port Klang (97), Putrajaya (95), Muar (95) and Shah Alam (91).
Meanwhile, Sarawak, which was previously the worst-hit state, recorded moderate-to-good API readings.
Samarahan recorded 88, followed by Sri Aman (82) and Kuching (77), with Limbang having the lowest API reading of 20.
The haze is due to open burning in Indonesia’s Sumatra and Kalimantan provinces as it is the fastest way to clear plantation and forest lands.
According to the Meteorological Department, both provinces continued to be shrouded in widespread moderate to dense smoke haze.
API readings of between 0 and 50 indicate good air quality; 51 and 100, moderate; 101 and 200, unhealthy; 201 and 300, very unhealthy; and over 301, hazardous.
Antara 7 Sep 15;
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia can be freed from the haze disaster if it implements several preventive measures and involves the people, according to Willem Rampangilei, the new chief of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).
"I am convinced we can overcome it, but I cannot reply if questioned on how long it will take. This is because there are several factors that lead to forest and land fires. Humans who set ablaze forest and peatland areas are one of the causes of the fires," Rampangilei remarked.
He made the statement after being installed by President Joko Widodo as the agencys head on Monday. He succeeds Syamsul Maarif as the new head of BNPB.
Rampangilei affirmed that anticipatory steps should be taken before forest fires occurred by spreading awareness among the people on the dangers of forest and land fires.
He said that the haze resulting from forest fires posed a serious threat not only to the economy but also to the health of the people, particularly to expecting mothers and children under five years of age.
"Besides this, the delays in flights at several airports caused losses that have to be borne by the airline operators," the new BNPB chief pointed out.
Regarding the commitment to handling the haze disaster, he noted that the president had issued an instruction for handling the haze problem.
However, he declined to divulge further details on the steps he plans to take to free Indonesians from haze since he was still waiting for an official hand over of the post from the former chief, which will be held on Thursday.
The Democrat Party has urged the government to take swift steps to mitigate the haze disaster in several provinces in Indonesia.
"We urge the government to conduct coordination, adopt a proper action plan, and cooperate with regional governments to overcome the haze problem as soon as possible," Deputy Chairman of the Democratic Partys Central Executive Board, Sjarifuddin Hasan, stated at a press conference here on Sunday.
The haze resulting from land and forest fires in the provinces of South Sumatra, Riau, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, and South Kalimantan have had a negative impact on the peoples economy, the environment, the education sector, and the publics health, he noted.
Chief of the Democrat Party faction in the House of Representatives (DPR) Edhie Baskoro Yudhoyono meanwhile lauded President Widodos plan to visit the South Sumatra provincial capital of Palembang to monitor the haze disaster mitigation efforts.
"By going to the field, the government has shown its positive intent," he affirmed.
However, the governments actions to deal with the haze were a bit late. He urged President Widodo to take anticipatory steps to prevent the haze disaster from recurring in the future, he added.
President Widodo arrived at Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II Airport in Palembang, South Sumatra, on Sunday to check the preparations to mitigate the haze disaster in the province.
Shortly after arriving at the airport, the president and his entourage headed straight to the meeting room at the airport to hold a closed-door meeting to coordinate forest and land fire mitigation efforts in the province.
The president informed reporters that the closed-door meeting was held to only discuss the efforts to mitigate hotspots to prevent them from spreading.(*)
Stern law enforcement needed to tackle forest fires
Fardah Antara 8 Sep 15;
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The problem of haze has been getting worse on Sumatra Island, forcing flight delays and temporary school shutdowns, and affecting the publics overall health.
As of Monday morning, a total of 413 hotspots were detected across Sumatra Island. Riau Province had 45 hotspots, Bengkulu had five hotspots, Jambi had 170, Lampung had 31, South Sumatra had 79, West Sumatra had four, Bangka Belitung had 77, and two hotspots were found in Riau Islands.
For the past 18 years, Riau has been affected by the haze arising from forest and plantation fires on an annual basis. Over the last week, visibility in parts of Riau had dropped to between 200 and 800 meters.
Feeling concerned with the environmental disaster and its impact on the publics health, hundreds of students from Riau University in Pekanbaru staged a rally on Monday to express five demands from the government regarding the haze disasters.
Firstly, the government should declare a haze emergency since the haze disaster has affected public health, the field coordinator of the rally, Siti Lestari, noted.
The students also urged the authorities to take legal action against plantation companies found guilty of setting fires that have razed thousands of hectares of forest and plantation areas in Riau Province.
The haze problem has repeatedly occurred due to weak legal enforcement, she pointed out.
The students also emphasized that hospitals must offer free medical services to those affected by the haze, particularly patients suffering from respiratory infections.
"Inhabitants, who become victims of the haze, must not pay for medical services to treat their respiratory infections," she reiterated.
As Riaus inhabitants are still reeling under the impact of the haze, the government must help the victims, the students have demanded.
In fact, the Indragiri Hulu Police detained five persons earlier on Monday for allegedly setting fire to plantation areas that had produced the haze affecting the Riau Province.
"They must take responsibility for their actions, which is making local inhabitants restless," Adjunct Commissioner, Taufik Suwardi, from the Indragiri Hulu police resort, said.
The police will indiscriminately penalize anyone who is found deliberately setting fire to forests or plantation areas, he stated.
"We will impose stern sanctions," he said.
Since January 2015, the Indragiri Hulu police have arrested five farmers for opening farming areas by using fire.
The arrests of the arsonists is in line with an instruction from President Joko Widodo, who has ordered security agencies to take action against companies, which have burnt down the fields that had caused a haze in six provinces.
"I have ordered the national police chief to take the sternest possible action against companies that violate the law," he said while inspecting the forest fires in the Pulau Geronggang village of Ogan Komering Ilir, South Sumatra, on Sunday.
President Widodo also reminded all ministries/institutions, TNI military/police, and related offices that prevention is the best policy.
He emphasized that companies violating the law must be held responsible, adding that he had on several earlier occasions cautioned many plantation companies that harsh action will be taken against those found guilty of setting fire to their fields.
The head of state stressed that companies must also be responsible for the areas around their fields.
Furthermore, South Sumatra Governor, Alex Noerdin, is expected to call plantation managers, including those from Ogan Komering Ilir, to address the issue of forest and plantation fires in the province.
The meeting will also discuss the causes of and solution for the fires, the Governor stated on Monday.
The provincial authorities have intensified efforts to put out the fires through land and air operations. Water bombing has been conducted over areas being ravaged by the fires, the Governor stated.
In response to the press questions, the Governor remarked that he would consider the revocation of plantation business permits as necessary action if needed.
However, Noerdin said he would first study whether the authority for doing the same lay in the hands of the Governor or the district heads.
Due to the wildfires, operations at the Sultan Syarif Kasim II Airport in Pekanbaru are also nearly paralyzed as the haze has forced a delay in hundreds of flights scheduled since early September.
Haze reduced visibility to 200 meters on Sunday, forcing delays for flights at the airport. At noon, flight schedules were resumed as visibility improved to one thousand meters.
Pekanbaru Airport has also opened a health post for passengers exposed to haze arising from Sumatras forest fires.
"We have readied medicines and masks for outgoing and arriving passengers," the Coordinator for the second-class airport of Pekanbaru, Albert Jefferson, noted.
The health post will continue to operate as long as the haze affects the city, Jefferson noted.
In the meantime, the haze arising from bush fires had reduced visibility in the Pelalawan District, Riau Province, to 50 meters on Monday.
"Pelalawan is the worst affected by haze, with visibility reduced to 50 meters," Sugarin, the head of the Pekanbaru meteorology office, said.
Fires in Lampung Province, which were reportedly intentionally set, have destroyed hundreds of hectares of forest area in the Way Kambas National Park located in East Lampung District.
"Currently, one location in the Section III of the Way Kambas National Park is still on fire," Antonius Febri, the head of the parks Section III, confirmed on Sunday.
He suspected that the fires were deliberately lit by poachers operating in the park.
A team comprising the parks personnel, rangers, and military officials have also been making efforts to put out the fires.
Over 400 hectares of forest area in the parks Section III have been destroyed by the fires since June.
"In Section III of Way Penet, a forest area measuring 400 to 500 hectares was razed by the fires," he pointed out.
The Way Kambas National Park is divided into three sections: Section I in Way Kanan, Section II in Way Bungur, and Section III in Way Penet.
In fact, forest fires have not only hit Sumatra Islands at present, but also Kalimantan and Java Islands, particularly in the Central and South Kalimantan Provinces.
President Joko Widodo has ordered to activate command posts to control and tackle forest fires that trigger haze problems in Sumatra and Kalimantan.
"The President has ordered the opening of four command posts in Kalimantan and four in Sumatra," former Chief of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), Syamsul Maarif, stated on Sept. 4, after attending a limited cabinet meeting led by the President at the State Palace.
Maarif remarked that four measures had to be adopted to deal with the smoke arising from bush fires, include extinguishing the fires as early as possible, ensuring law enforcement, undertaking health efforts, and informing the public to not set fire for land-clearing activities.
President Jokowi also removed Syamsul Maarif and installed Willem Rampangilei as the new BNPB chief on Monday afternoon.
Minister/State Secretary, Pratikno, said Maarif had been relieved of his responsibilities as he had been holding the post for a long time, while Rampangilei was appointed due to his competency and experience.
"It is just a routine rotation and normal because Mr. Maarif has been the BNPB chief for a long time," the minister clarified.(*)
police detain 5 arsonists in plantation fire case
Antara 7 Sep 15;
Rengat, Riau (ANTARA News) - The Indragiri Hulu police have detained five people for allegedly setting fire to plantation areas that has produced the haze affecting Riau Province.
"They must take responsibility for their actions, which are making local inhabitants restless," Adjunct Commissioner, Taufik Suwardi, of the Indragiri Hulu police resort said on Monday.
The police will indiscriminately sanction anyone, who is found deliberately setting fire to forests or plantation areas, he stated.
"We will impose stern sanctions," he said.
Since January 2015, the Indragiri Hulu police have arrested five farmers for opening farming areas by using fire.
In the meantime, President Joko Widodo has ordered security agencies to take action against companies, which have burnt down fields that has caused haze in six provinces.
"I have ordered the national police chief to take the sternest possible action against companies that violate the laws," he said while inspecting the forest fire in the Pulau Geronggang village in Ogan Komering Ilir, South Sumatra, on Sunday.
President Widodo also reminded all ministries/institutions, TNI (military)/police, and related offices that prevention is the best policy.
He emphasized that companies violating the law must be held responsible, adding that he had on several earlier occasions cautioned many plantation companies that harsh actions would be taken against those found guilty of setting fires to their fields.
The head of state affirmed that companies must also be responsible for the areas around their fields.(*)
Indonesia appoints new disaster mitigation chief
Willem Rampangilei's appointment as the head of the national disaster mitigation agency comes as the country struggles to contain the forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan.
Sujadi Siswo, Channel NewsAsia 7 Sep 15;
JAKARTA: Indonesian President Joko Widodo has replaced the head of the national disaster mitigation agency or BNPB.
Willem Rampangilei, a former rear-admiral from the Indonesian Navy, replaces Syamsol Maarif - also a former military general - who has headed the agency since 2008. Willem said his strategy ahead is to focus on prevention and community involvement.
Willem's appointment comes as the country is struggling to contain the forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan, which is a yearly occurrence during the dry months. He said the fires were man-man and can be prevented.
"We all know the smoke disaster has been happening for 17 years. Maybe we should step up prevention and our emergency response,” said Willem. “We have to improve early warning and early detection before the fire breaks out. There is also a need for socialisation, making people understand the dangers of fire."
Smoke from the fire has enveloped 80 per cent of Sumatra. It is posing health risks, with schools forced to close and airports shut down as visibility dropped to less than 500 metres.
President Widodo has set up a national task force to deal with the forest fire, with the smoke affecting neighbouring Singapore and Malaysia.
The Indonesian leader visited one of the affected areas in South Sumatra on Sunday (Sep 6). He has instructed the police to take stern action against perpetrators who intentionally set fire to plantations for land-clearing purposes.
According to Indonesia's forestry minister, police have cordoned off areas that have been burned in South Sumatra and will soon identify their owners. Similar actions would follow for Riau and Jambi, two other areas that are badly affected.
However, in previous cases, it was difficult to bring the perpetrators to justice because of lack of evidence. Even if they were prosecuted, the sentence may be too lenient to act as a deterrent to would-be offenders.
The current dry spell is expected to stretch until November due to the El Nino weather phenomenon.
- CNA/ec
Joko visits haze ground zero
The Star 8 Sep 15;
JAKARTA: Indonesian President Joko Widodo visited South Sumatra province for a first-hand look at forest fires that have been causing the worst haze in the past few days, as officials continue water-bombing and cloud- seeding efforts.
He was accompanied by the police chief, military chief, head of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) and a senior Environment and Forestry Ministry official on a last-minute trip on Sunday aimed at stepping up the urgency of putting out the fires.
“I’ve ordered the police chief to get very tough on companies that do not comply with the law... and instructed the Forestry Minister to revoke (their) licences once they are found guilty on criminal charges,” said Joko, who arrived in Palembang where he was met by the province’s governor Alex Noerdin.
“Do not let the widespread burning become difficult to overcome, and so I have said I no longer want to talk about the cause of the problem or what is the solution. Everyone knows what needs to be done.”
Joko made a stop to check on the progress of the Trans-Sumatra toll road before heading to areas most affected by land burning.
Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya is on her way back after cutting short an official trip to Norway for climate change talks.
The visit by Joko, who went to Riau last November, comes at a time when forest fires have peaked during an El Nino-linked dry spell.
So far, six provinces – Riau, Jambi and South Sumatra in Sumatra and three others in Kalimantan – have been put on emergency alert status as the number of hot spots shot up.
To speed up coordination to fight the fires, a central haze task force would be set up, according to the Environment and Forestry Ministry’s director-general Bambang Hendroyono.
The task force will involve governors of fire-prone provinces and their environmental authorities, he said.
BNPB reported visibility falling to just 200m in Pelalawan district in Riau yesterday morning. It was about 1km in Jambi.
As many as 13 helicopters are being used in water-bombing efforts and three Casa 212 aircraft for cloud-seeding across affected provinces, said BNPB spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.
The air operation is being boosted by the loan of four Air Tractors from Australia which are fire-fighting aircraft capable of scooping large amounts of water and releasing them over fires.
One is already being used in Riau, said Dr Sutopo.
On the ground, there are some 1,500 people in each province from local disaster management agencies, police and army, or volunteer firemen from villages.
“We are tightening law enforcement through stepped-up vigilance by police and local government officials. Soldiers are patrolling plantation areas to guard the fire-prone areas,” Dr Sutopo said, adding that police had stepped up warnings against illegal land burning.
Police have caught 39 people suspected of illegal land burning this year and have sealed off their land.
Meanwhile, local media in Sumatra said organisations were distributing masks to motorists.
In South Sumatra, which had the most hot spots and land burning in the last few days, the health authorities reported 22,555 residents complaining of respiratory problems. The number in Riau was 1,002.
Flights at several airports, especially those in Riau’s capital city Pekanbaru, continued to be delayed and the erratic schedule prompted some residents to resort to travelling by land, even though this took longer. — The Straits Times /Asia News Network
New disaster chief for Indonesia
Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja Straits Times AsiaOne 8 Sep 15;
Indonesia swore in a new chief of its National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) yesterday, as the government steps up the fight against raging land and forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan.
The number of fires has soared in recent weeks as the dry season takes hold, exacerbated by the El Nino weather pattern that continues to strengthen. El Ninos typically reduce rainfall in South-east Asia and can cause severe drought, leaving forests ripe for severe fires.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo yesterday swore in retired two-star navy officer Willem Rampangilei, 59, who was previously a deputy to the coordinating minister for culture and human development, and in charge of disaster impacts and social affairs.
The outgoing BNPB chief, retired army general Syamsul Maarif, who has been at the helm of the agency since 2008, will officially hand over the job on Thursday.
Air quality has plunged in parts of Sumatra, and yesterday more than 300 students in Pekanbaru, Riau province, staged a street rally outside the governor's office demanding that the local government pressure Jakarta to send more military reinforcements to fight the blazes.
In Palembang, capital of South Sumatra province, air quality yesterday fluctuated between the levels of unhealthy and very unhealthy.
Mr Joko on Sunday visited South Sumatra for a first-hand look at forest fires and ordered Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar, military chief Gatot Nurmantyo and the BNPB to step up firefighting efforts and accelerate prosecutions of anyone found guilty of lighting fires.
The military has added three more helicopters to the 14 already carrying out water-bombing operations in Sumatra and Kalimantan. Police have cordoned off 14 areas in Riau and have immediately started investigations.
Today and later this week, the authorities will descend on areas in South Sumatra and Jambi provinces where suspected intentional burning has taken place. The investigation will involve interviews with local residents and witnesses on how the fires started, said Mrs Siti, who attended Mr Willem's swearing-in at the presidential palace.
Mr Willem pledged to ensure fire-prevention efforts were more effective. "We need to strengthen our early-warning system, early-detection system, as well as spread the message to the residents about how dangerous forest fires are," he told reporters after the swearing-in. "We have to get more involvement from the residents to prevent fire."
Antara 7 Sep 15;
Pekanbaru, Riau (ANTARA News) - Hundreds of students of Riau University here, Monday, staged a rally to express their five-point demands to the government regarding haze disasters.
First, the government should declare a haze emergency status since the haze disaster has affected public health, field coordinator of the rally Siti Lestari noted.
The students also urged the authorities to take legal action against plantation companies found guilty of setting fires that razed thousands of hectares of forest and plantation areas in Riau Province.
Haze problem has repeatedly occurred due to weak legal enforcement, she pointed out.
The students also emphasized that hospitals must offer free medical services to those affected by the haze, particularly patients suffering from respiratory infections.
"Inhabitants who become victims of the haze must not pay for medical services to treat their respiratory infections," she affirmed.
As Riaus inhabitants are reeling under the impact of the haze, hence the government must evacuate the victims, according to the students.
Annually for the past 18 years, Riau has been affected by haze arising from forest and plantation fires.
Over the last week, visibility in parts of Riau has dropped to between 200-800 meters.
On Monday, a total of 413 hotspots were detected across Sumatra Island. Riau Province had 45 hotspots, Bengkulu five hotspots, Jambi 170, Lampung 31, South Sumatra 79, West Sumatra four, Bangka Belitung 77, and two hotspots in Riau Islands.(*)
Rizal Harahap and Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, The Jakarta Post 7 Sep 15;
The intensity of pollution produced by land and forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan continued to fluctuate over the weekend, putting the health of local residents at risk and disrupting activities in a number of airports on the two major islands.
On Sunday, as of 10 a.m. local time, the management of Sultan Syarif Kasim International (SSK) II Airport in Pekanbaru reported that there was no flight activity taking place at the airport, as the haze that blanketed the Riau provincial capital decreased visibility to only 300 meters.
SSK II officer-in-charge Hasnan Siregar said although the visibility had increased to around 1,000 meters by 9:30 a.m., most airlines had decided to cancel their morning flights to Pekanbaru over safety concerns.
“In fact, there should have been six flight arrivals from Jakarta and Bandung during that time,” Hasnan said.
Local authorities in many parts of the country, particularly in Sumatra and Kalimantan, have been struggling over the past few months to extinguish massive land and forest fires triggered mainly by this year’s extended dry season.
In Riau, the country’s largest oil-producing region, at least 12 regencies and municipalities have been blanketed by different intensities of pollution over the past weeks, resulting in an increase in the number of people suffering from respiratory illnesses.
Provisional data from the Riau Health Agency, for example, showed that 9,386 people had suffered from haze-related diseases over the past few months. Of that number, 7,412 suffered from acute respiratory infection (ISPA), 903 from skin irritation, 485 from eye irritation, 296 from asthma and 290 from pneumonia.
“During the past week alone, there were 2,601 new patients,” agency head Andra Sjafril said on Sunday.
In South Kalimantan, Antara news agency reported that 13 flights from and to Banjarmasin’s Syamsudin Noor Airport experienced delays for several hours on Sunday because of the thick haze that covered the city.
A Lion Air flight heading to Surabaya, which was initially scheduled to take off at 6:30 a.m. local time, for example, could only depart at 8:04 a.m., while another serving the Banjarmasin-Yogyakarta route finally left at 8 a.m. after it had been delayed for almost two hours.
“The visibility started to return to normal from 11 a.m. and by noon the visibility increased to 8,000 meters, allowing all subsequent flights to go smoothly,” the airport’s service section head Wahyu Riyanto said.
The government has recently announced the establishment of a task force that will conduct a “haze emergency” operation at the national level to support soon-to-be-established task forces on regional levels, with the respective governors acting as coordinators.
Meanwhile, in support of ongoing efforts to curb the worsening haze, a number of comic strip drawers accross the archipelago are organizing a campaign against the pollution by posting their works, including animation, cartoons, photos, memes and poems under the theme of “protest against haze”, on social media.
Pekanbaru-based Dhany Pramata, an initiator of the move, for example, recently created a campaign with the hashtag #MasihMelawanAsap (still fighting against haze) through his Instagram account, which has 55,300 followers.
“As a Riau resident, I will never tire of voicing my protests until the sky over Riau returns to blue,” he told The Jakarta Post.
Catherine Wilson PlanetArk 8 Sep 15;
One day last March, farmers in this village on the banks of the Kafetina River, in the mountainous highlands of Papua New Guinea, watched their food gardens swept away by pouring rain, flooding and landslides.
Just months later, a severe drought has engulfed the country, affecting nearly a million people in the highlands and leaving many facing severe food shortages until rains return at the end of the year.
The Papua New Guinea government's National Disaster Centre estimates that providing food to families that need it will cost $12 million over the next four months, as the country endures what some are calling the strongest El Nino climate phenomenon in memory, according to the International Organization for Migration.
Weather extremes are forecast to worsen this century in this southwest Pacific Island state, as in many parts of the world, and have led the government to focus on boosting rainwater harvesting and introducing crops tolerant of extreme weather to help farmers who face growing risks of crop losses.
Food growers in Avaninofi say the extreme rainfall that launched this year's problems was unprecedented.
Papua New Guinea can receive 3 meters of rainfall a year. But no one in Avaninofi was prepared for the destruction unleashed in March by torrential rain, gale force winds and hailstorms, which affected more than 100,000 people across the country, local people say.
In some areas, such as East New Britain Province, nearly a quarter of the country's average rainfall for the month fell within 24 hours.
"We have never experienced such flooding before. It took everything: the food crops and also some of the cash crops, especially the coffee, and we were left with nothing," Frank Sifeu, a resident of Avaninofi in Henganofi District, Eastern Highlands Province, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Coffee and banana trees, peanut, tomato and corn crops, and seven houses were washed away. One child drowned, he said.
Naisman Mitio, a food crop officer with the Eastern Highlands Provincial Division of Agriculture, said the deluge also triggered "a number of landslides from different locations (on the mountainsides) which removed whole food gardens, coffee trees, citrus and vegetable gardens.
"It swept the gardens away to the river and buried some of them, too. At the same time the river flooded and gardens beside the riverbed were washed away," he said.
Six of the country's 22 provinces were pronounced disaster areas in March, including Gulf province in the country's south, Jiwaka in the interior and the eastern autonomous region of Bougainville.
More than 80 percent of the country's population of 7.2 million depend on agriculture for food and income, and the decimation of crops by floodwaters and landslides plunged many rural families into hunger and financial difficulties.
Losses and damages to infrastructure, commercial farming and livelihoods were estimated at more than 100 million kina ($36 million), according to the Papua New Guinean government.
But the people of Avaninofi say that moving away from the river to avoid further losses is not an option as the village is surrounded by steep mountains and there is no other suitable place to live.
In the disaster's aftermath, the provincial government stepped in to provide villagers with emergency food supplies and new planting materials, such as sweet potato and cassava cuttings, African yam and cabbage seeds.
DROUGHT HITS
But then the long dry season arrived in April - and a drought that appears to have been worsened by a particularly strong El Nino climate phenomenon this year.
"We tried to plant the crops, but due to the dry weather the heat has withered most of the food that we planted," Sifeu of Avaninofi said.
Lisa Ovifa, a farmer in the village, also has seen her vegetable garden turn into little more than a patch of parched earth by the mostly dry riverbed.
"The soil is very hard and we have tried irrigating it with river water, but it has not helped, so we are surviving on bananas and cassava," she said.
Rains should return by November, but it will take a further three months to produce the first harvest, families say. In the meantime, they will buy fresh produce from other communities to survive, Sifeu said.
"People up in the mountains, in the rainforest area, they will bring down food and sell it on the roadside or at the market and we will buy some," he said.
Luanne Losi, an adaptation policy analyst at the national Office of Climate Change and Development (OCCD), said her office was looking at ways of addressing the country's extreme weather problems, including growing more drought-tolerant crops and finding ways of storing water to water crops in the dry season.
"The impact of climate change on food production will be very critical," she said.
Jenifa Kena of the Eastern Highlands Women in Agriculture organization said that women, who are the primary food growers, are particularly hard hit.
"Especially the women face hardship because they are the ones to put food on the table and the ones who go to the market to sell the food to bring income for the family," she said.
Kena has encouraged farmers in the province to plant more hardy African yams to improve their food security in the face of extreme weather, and advised them on ways of preserving the staple crop as a powder which can be used in cooking and baking during the lean months.
(Editing by Laurie Goering :; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, climate change, women's rights, trafficking and corruption. Visit www.trust.org/climate)
FAO publishes key findings of global forest resources assessment
FAO 7 Sep 15;
7 September 2015, Durban/Rome - The world's forests continue to shrink as populations increase and forest land is converted to agriculture and other uses, but over the past 25 years the rate of net global deforestation has slowed down by more than 50 percent, FAO said in a report published today.
Some 129 million hectares of forest - an area almost equivalent in size to South Africa - have been lost since 1990, according to FAO's most comprehensive forest review to date, The Global Forest Resources Assessment 2015.
It noted however, that an increasing amount of forest areas have come under protection while more countries are improving forest management. This is often done through legislation and includes the measuring and monitoring of forest resources and a greater involvement of local communities in planning and in developing policies.
The FAO study covers 234 countries and territories and was presented at this week's World Forestry Congress in Durban, South Africa.
"Forests play a fundamental role in combating rural poverty, ensuring food security and providing people with livelihoods. And they deliver vital environmental services such as clean air and water, the conservation of biodiversity and combating climate change," said FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva, launching the report in Durban.
He noted an "encouraging tendency towards a reduction in rates of deforestation and carbon emissions from forests," as well as improved information that can inform good policy, noting that presently national forest inventories cover 81 percent of global forest area, a substantial increase over the past 10 years.
"The direction of change is positive, but we need to do better," the FAO Director-General cautioned. "We will not succeed in reducing the impact of climate change and promoting sustainable development if we do not preserve our forests and sustainably use the many resources they offer us," he added.
Main findings
While in 1990 forests made up 31.6 percent of the word's land areas, or some 4 128 million hectares, this has changed to 30.6 percent in 2015, or some 3 999 million hectares, according to FRA.
Meanwhile, the net annual rate of forest loss has slowed from 0.18 percent in the early 1990s to 0.08 percent during the period 2010-2015.
Today, the bulk (93 percent) of the world's forest area is natural forest - a category that includes primary forest areas where human disturbances have been minimized, as well as secondary forest areas that have regenerated naturally.
Planted forest, another subcategory, currently accounts for 7 percent of the world's overall forest area, having increased by over 110 million hectares since 1990.
FAO's report stresses the critical importance of forests to people, the environment, and the global economy.
The forest sector contributes about $600 billion annually to global GDP and provides employment to over 50 million people.
Biggest losses in Africa and South America
Africa and South America had the highest net annual loss of forests in 2010-2015, with 2.8 and 2 million hectares respectively, but the report notes how the rate of loss has "substantially decreased" from the previous five year period.
Since 1990 most deforestation has taken place in the tropics. In contrast, net forest area has increased in temperate countries while there has been relatively little change in the boreal and subtropical regions.
However, given global population growth, average per capita forest area has predominantly declined per person in the tropics and subtropics, but also in all the other climatic regions with the exception of the temperate.
Better-managed forests
Globally, natural forest area is decreasing and planted forest area is increasing and while most forests remain publicly owned, ownership by individuals and communities has increased. In all cases FAO stresses the importance of sustainable forest management practices.
Natural forests, the least touched by humankind, contribute to conserving genotypes - the genetic constitutions of organisms - and in maintaining the composition of natural tree species while providing vital habitats to endangered animal species.
Forests help replenish groundwater supplies crucial for drinking, agriculture and other uses. They also protect soils from erosion, avalanches and landslides.
Planted forests, for their part, are often established for production and where well-managed can provide various forest goods and service and help reduce the pressure on natural forests.
This must also be seen in the context of the increase in global wood consumption and the continued widespread reliance on woodfuel.
"The management of forests has improved dramatically over the last 25 years. This includes planning, knowledge sharing, legislation, policies - a whole range of important steps that countries have implemented or are implementing," said Kenneth MacDicken, leader of FAO's Global Forest Resources Assessment Team.
He underscored how since 1990 the designation of additional forest land for conservation increased by some 150 million ha and that forest in protected areas has increased by over 200 million hectares.
Safeguarding biodiversity
Forests are rich in biologically diversity, and home to more than half of the terrestrial species of animals, plants and insects. FAO warns that despite conservation efforts the threat of biodiversity loss persists and is likely to continue with deforestation, forest degradation - a reduction in tree biomass density from human or natural causes such as logging, fire, windthrows and other events - pollution and climate change all having negative impacts.
Currently, forest area primarily designated for biodiversity conservation accounts for 13 percent of the world's forest, or 524 million hectares, with the largest areas reported in Brazil and the United States.
Over the last five year period Africa reported the highest annual increase in the area of forest for conservation while Europe, North and Central American and North America reported the lowest compared to previous reporting periods, while the increase reported by Asia for 2010-2015 was lower than that reported for 2000-1010 but higher than the increase reported in the 1990s.
Addressing climate change
Deforestation and forest degradation increase the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, but forest and tree growth absorbs carbon dioxide which is the main greenhouse gas. FAO notes how a more sustainable management of forests will result in a reduction in carbon emissions from forests and has a vital role to play in addressing the impacts of climate change.
FAO has estimated that total carbon emissions from forests decreased by more than 25 percent between 2001 and 2015, mainly due to a slowdown in global deforestation rates.
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