Indonesia: Aceh's 20-hectare peatland engulfed by fire amid dry season

Antara 4 Jul 19;

Suka Makmue, Aceh (ANTARA) - Fire scorched 20 hectares of peatland in two villages of Nagan Raya District, Aceh, Thursday afternoon, amid the dry season that has mired fire-extinguishing efforts, Nagan Raya Disaster Mitigation Agency's (BPBD's) Acting Head Hamidi stated.

In a bid to prevent the fire, gutting certain peatland areas in Cot Mue Village in Tadu Raya Sub-district and Kuala Tripa Village in Tripa Makmur Sub-district, from further worsening, BPBD workers had built canal blockings, he revealed.

"We have been able to localize the fire by building canal blockings at several locations, but our endeavor to douse it could not as yet be done completely," Hamidi remarked, adding that the fire-razed areas belong to the local villagers.

In putting out the fire, the BPBD workers collaborated with personnel from the military and police as well as members of the community by installing water pumps at various locations, as fire trucks were unable to reach the disaster zone, he noted.

During this year's dry season, efforts to prevent land and forest fires from recurring are also being made by the authorized institutions in other provinces within Sumatra Island.

In South Sumatra Province, the Indonesian military partook in the efforts by regularly holding public awareness campaigns in several districts.

The campaigns highlighting the importance of taking precautionary measures have been conducted in districts, such as Banyuasin and Ogan Komering Ilir, Chief of the 044/Garuda Dempo Military Resort Command, Major Binsar J. Simanjuntak, recently stated.

According to Simanjuntak, the precautionary measures were also taken by the land and forest fire task force by monitoring susceptible areas. Similar preventive measures were also taken by the Banyuasin district military command.

South Sumatra and several other provinces in Indonesia's Sumatra Island have been frequently challenged and threatened by haze, triggered by land and forest fires, over the past years.

Taking into account this challenging reality, the South Sumatra police have give an ultimatum to the province's plantation companies and farmers to not use slash and burn farming methods during this year's dry season to avoid the recurrences of land and forest fires.

The slash and burn agricultural practice is completely prohibited, as it can trigger the occurrences of land and forest fires that cause a haze crisis.

The smog not only affects the health of the local people but is also a problem for neighboring countries since it potentially threatens the people's health and aviation activities.

EDITED BY INE

Reporter: Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf

BNPB to deploy thousands of officers to prevent forest fires
The Jakarta Post 5 Jul 19;

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) through institutions such as the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police is expected to deploy thousands of officers to reduce forest fires this year.

BNPB secretary-general Dody Ruswandi said the agency would send 1,000 military personnel and 205 police officers to villages in Riau, West Kalimantan and Jambi, provinces that were vulnerable to forest fires.

“They will try to educate locals on how to utilize the land so that the locals would not burn the forest anymore,” Dody told reporters during a press briefing at the BNPB headquarters in Central Jakarta on Thursday.

Dodi said three other provinces, Central Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, and South Sumatra, were also vulnerable to forest fires because they had a significant amount of peatland.

On the same occasion, the Environment and Forestry Ministry’s acting director for forest and land fire control, Raffles Brotestes Panjaitan, said many locals were involved in burning forest for economic purposes.

“We are trying to change their paradigm and culture of burning forest but it will take much time and effort,” he said.

To prevent forest fires, Raffles said government agencies established a program that would educate locals on creating charcoal, wood vinegar and compost from wood waste generated by fires in order to boost economic productivity. (awa/jun)


Palangka Raya works to halt recurrence of forest fires
Antara 4 Jul 19;

Banjar Baru, C Kalimantan (ANTARA) - The authorities in Palangka Raya have been striving to halt the recurrence of bush and forest fires in the Central Kalimantan Province's capital city amid the dry season, while the city's health workers are also preparing to help the residents affected by smog.

"At the moment, none of the city's residents are suffering from health problems due to the impact of the smog," Acting Head of the Palangka Raya Health Office, Andjar Hari Purnomo, said here on Thursday.

Over these past few days, bush and forest fires have been spotted in certain areas around the city. On July 2, a thin cloud of smog blanketed the city's sky.

Purnomo said his office has taken precautionary measures to anticipate unexpected eventualities by ensuring the readiness of health centers and the availability of medicines.

As part of the precautionary measures, health workers recently distributed face masks to the city's firefighters, he said.

Several provinces in the Indonesian islands of Kalimantan and Sumatera have frequently been challenged by the recurrence of bush and forest fires partly due to vulnerable peatlands, and the ongoing slash and burn agricultural practice.

Related news: C Kalimantan deploys 750 personnel to prevent forest fires

On Thursday afternoon, fire scorched 20 hectares of peatland in two villages of Nagan Raya District, Aceh Province, amid the dry season that has mired fire-extinguishing efforts, Nagan Raya Disaster Mitigation Agency's (BPBD's) Acting Head, Hamidi, stated.

In a bid to prevent the fire from worsening in certain peatland areas in Cot Mue Village in Tadu Raya Sub-district and Kuala Tripa Village in Tripa Makmur Sub-district, BPBD workers had built canal blockings, he revealed.

In South Sumatra, the police had give an ultimatum to the province's plantation companies and farmers to not use slash and burn farming methods during this year's dry season to avoid the recurrences of land and forest fires.

The slash and burn agricultural practice is completely prohibited, as it can trigger the occurrences of land and forest fires that cause a haze crisis.

The smog not only affects the health of the local people but is also a problem for neighboring countries since it potentially threatens the people's health and aviation activities.

EDITED BY INE

Reporter: Rendhik A, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf

Water crisis cripples life in Central Java's Banyumas
Antara 5 Jul 19;

Purwokerto, C Java (ANTARA) - Some 3,150 families in 12 villages in Banyumas District, Central Java Province, are reeling from a clean water crisis resulting from the devastating drought, the district's Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) confirmed here on Friday.

In dealing with the scarcity of clean water amid this year's dry season, the BPBD has prepared one thousand water tanks and regularly distributed clean water supplies to meet the requirement of some 10,876 people, Acting Head of Banyumas' BPBD Ariono Poerwanto stated.

Karanganyar Village in Patikraja Sub-district; villages of Nusadadi and Karanggendang in Sumpiuh Sub-district, as well as the villages of Kediri and Tamansari in Karanglewas Sub-district are among the villages in nine sub-districts ravaged by the clean water crisis.

"We have distributed clean water supplies to the villagers affected by this devastating drought," he stated.

In 2018, the prolonged drought had also ravaged the sub-districts of Sumpiuh, Banyumas, Somagede, Kalibagor, Cilongok, Purwojati, Kebasen, and Karanglewas.

The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has forecast that this year's drought will likely peak in August and September, for which those living in all affected areas should maintain vigil to deal with its impact.

The devastating and protracted drought afflicting several parts of Indonesia has not just led to a scarcity of clean water and a deterioration in the air quality but it has also triggered potential recurrence of bush and forest fires in certain provinces.

In Aceh Province, for instance, fire scorched 20 hectares of peatland in two villages of Nagan Raya District on Thursday afternoon. The dry season has mired fire-extinguishing efforts, Nagan Raya Disaster Mitigation Agency's (BPBD's) Acting Head Hamidi revealed.

In a bid to prevent the fire, gutting certain peatland areas in Cot Mue Village in Tadu Raya Sub-district and Kuala Tripa Village in Tripa Makmur Sub-district, from further worsening, BPBD workers had built canal blockings, he remarked.

In South Sumatra Province, the Indonesian military partook in the efforts by regularly holding public awareness campaigns on how to prevent potential recurrence of bush and forest fires in several districts.

The campaigns highlighting the importance of taking precautionary measures have been conducted in districts, such as Banyuasin and Ogan Komering Ilir, according to Chief of the 044/Garuda Dempo Military Resort Command Major Binsar J. Simanjuntak. Related news: Drought paralyses 17 villages in Cilacap, Central Java

Reporter: Wuryanti P, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Sri Haryati

Six of 22 regions in East Nusa Tenggara potentially drought-prone
Antara 4 Jul 19;

Kupang, E Nusa Tenggara (ANTARA) - The Kupang Climatology Station has hinted at the possibility of six out of 22 regions in East Nusa Tenggara Province potentially reeling from drought this year.

Head of the Kupang Climatology Station Apolinaris Geru remarked in Kupang on Thursday that the six regions were the districts of Sikka, Lembata, Sumba Timur, Rote Ndao, and Belu as well as the Kupang municipality.

Results of an analysis conducted by the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) indicated potential meteorological drought that can spread to several Indonesian provinces, including East Nusa Tenggara.

Geru noted that based on the results of monitoring days without rain conducted until June 30, 2019, the potential of a meteorological drought was observed in most parts of Java, Bali, and Nusa Tenggara, with the criteria of long to extreme.

In general, East Nusa Tenggara fell in the category of medium (11-20 days) to very long (31-60 days) for the number of days without rain, he explained.

However, the six regions in East Nusa Tenggara come in the extreme category (>60 days) for the number of days without rain, he pointed out.

Hence, he affirmed that the regions had the potential to experience meteorological drought this year.

The BMKG has reminded regional authorities to step up vigil over likely forest fires and droughts since the dry season is expected to be drier this year as compared to the previous year.

"Regions affected by droughts in June, July, and August last year should be vigilant this year," Adi Ripalsi, head of the agency's climate information analysis sub-unit, noted recently.

"Last year, precipitation during the dry season was less than 20 millimeters a month, and this year, it can go lower," Ripalsi cautioned.

Reporter: Bernadus Tokan, Suharto
Editor: Azizah Fitriyanti