Antara 31 Jul 19;
Pekanbaru, Riau (ANTARA) - Students and teachers in Pekanbaru, Riau Province, were left with no choice but to wear face masks as haze, arising from forest and bush fires, hung over the city since early this week.
"Since Monday, schools have appealed to students to wear face marks, as children are susceptible to smoke emitted from forest fires," Afni Sarianti, a teacher of the Islam Akramunnas Kindergarten, noted here on Wednesday.
The students were explained about the health hazard posed by exposure to haze.
"Before entering classrooms and before leaving for home, we remind the children of the dangers of haze smoke," she noted.
Sarianti is optimistic that the government would act promptly in dealing with forest and bush fires to prevent recurrence of the forest fire disaster that had taken place in 2015 and forced schools to temporarily close for about a month due to the thick haze covering the city.
An official of the Pekanbaru meteorology station noted that the haze affecting Pekanbaru arose from forest fires in Pelalawan District, located in the south of Pekanbaru.
"Satellite monitoring shows that Pekanbaru and Pelalawan are being shrouded by haze," Yasir Prayuna, an analyst of the Pekanbatu Meteorology Station, remarked.
The number of hotspots in Riau Province has decreased to 10 on Wednesday morning, from 60 on Tuesday.
Four hotspots were detected in Pelalawan; one each in Kampar, Rokan Hilir, and Indragiri Hulu; and three in Indragiri Hilir.
As the air quality deteriorated in Pekanbaru, the Riau Health Office has handed out face masks free of charge to the local residents.
"We have a stock of 10 thousand face masks, and we distribute them for free," Yohanes, a local health official, stated.
In the meantime, some 5,929 personnel, comprising military, police, and civilian officers, were deployed to extinguish forest fires in the five provinces of Riau, South Sumatra, Central Kalimantan, West Kalimantan, and South Kalimantan.
The personnel were part of the Land Task Force for forest fire emergency and supported by the Air Task Force as well as firefighters from private companies, such APP Sinar Mas, which has deployed 3,180 men. Related news: Riau's land, forest fires covered 3,147 hectares in Jan-June 2019
Reporter: FB Anggoro, Fardah
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Jokowi instructs to immediately extinguish forest fires
Antara 31 Jul 19;
Three days ago, I phoned the BNPB (National Disaster Mitigation Office) chief, the Commander of the National Defense Forces (TNI), and the National Police Chief to deal with (the fires) in Riau, Palangka Rya, immediately
Jakarta (ANTARA) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has given orders to immediately put out the forest fires currently raging in several regions across the country.
"Three days ago, I had called the BNPB (National Disaster Mitigation Office) chief, commander of the National Defense Forces (TNI), and the National Police chief to deal with (the fires) in Riau, Palangka Raya, immediately," Jokowi remarked during his visit to Samosir District, North Sumatra Province, here on Wednesday.
Helicopters could be used to extinguish the forest fires, he stated.
In the meantime, a total of 27,683.47 hectares of forest, peatland, and bush areas in Riau Province were gutted by fires as of July 29, 2019, as compared to 2,273.97 hectares in West Kalimantan, 236.49 hectares in South Sumatra, 52.53 hectares in South Kalimantan, 27 hectares in Central Kalimantan, and 4.18 hectares in Jambi.
Some 5,929 personnel, comprising military, police, and civilian officers, were deployed to extinguish forest fires in the five provinces of Riau, South Sumatra, Central Kalimantan, West Kalimantan, and South Kalimantan.
The Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture announced that the country’s five provinces have declared an emergency status over land and forest fires in response to the threat of moderate to high drought risks in 2019.
The personnel were part of the Land Task Force for forest fire emergency and supported by the Air Task Force as well as firefighters from private companies, such APP Sinar Mas, which has deployed 3,180 men.
The Air Task Force has deployed helicopters to help extinguish forest, peatland, and bush fires. A total of 17 helicopters from the Military, private companies, Environmental Affairs Ministry, and the Natural Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) have been readied in Riau, three in South Sumatra, six in West Kalimantan, and seven in Central Kalimantan.
Some 61.06 million liters of water was used to put out the wildfires. The authorities have also applied weather modification technology to induce artificial rain in regions where hotspots were detected.
Reporter: Bayu P, Akbar NG, Fardah
Editor: Sri Haryati
Indonesia sends thousands of security personnel to combat forest fires
Agustinus Beo Da Costa Reuters 31 Jul 19;
JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia is deploying thousands of military and police to douse forest fires after declaring an emergency in six provinces on the island of Sumatra and in the province of Kalimantan on Borneo, a disaster mitigation official said on Wednesday.
Indonesia has faced global pressure to put an end to slash-and-burn clearance of land, often to plant palm and pulp plantations, particularly after devastating fires in 2015.
Fires Indonesian farmers use to clear land during the dry season can rage out of control, bringing a choking haze that can affect neighbours such as Singapore and Malaysia.
Drought has hit large parts of the archipelago as a mild El Nino weather pattern disrupts the dry season, weather officials say, with its peak now expected to run from mid-August to mid-September.
The number of hot spots has been increasing, with 124 intense enough to suggest fires detected nationwide by Wednesday morning, said Agus Wibowo, a spokesman for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency.
The government has declared an emergency in the provinces of Riau, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan, Jambi, South Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan, where extensive peatlands are particularly prone to fires, he added.
Authorities have brought in 5,679 additional personnel to five of the provinces, drawn from the military, police and the regional disaster mitigation agency, Wibowo said.
Also being deployed are aircraft that can run water bombing operations. In Riau, disaster authorities have made available 17 helicopters, with 10 more pressed in from private firms, the military and the forestry ministry, he added.
In Riau’s capital of Pekanbaru, some teachers and school children wore masks in classrooms and were urged to limit outdoor activity because of haze concerns, the Antara state news agency said.
To help stop the fires and preserve crops, authorities are turning to cloud-seeding, by shooting salt flares into clouds to try and trigger rains.
Nearly 50 million of Indonesia’s population of 260 million face drought in 28 of its 34 provinces, said Dody Usodo Hargo Suseno, an official of the coordinating ministry for human development.
President Joko Widodo, who is on a trip to the island of Sumatra, called officials from the military chief on down to urge them to immediately stop the forest fires, the cabinet secretariat said in a statement.
This month, Indonesia’s Supreme Court upheld a judgment against Widodo, cabinet ministers and provincial governors that attributed blame over their handling of the 2015 fires.
Additional reporting by Bernadette Christina Munthe and Jessica Damiana; Writing by Ed Davies; Editing by Clarence Fernandez
Indonesia battles fires as dry season peaks
State of emergency declared in six provinces, three of them near S'pore
Linda Yulisman Straits Times 1 Aug 19;
Six Indonesia provinces, including three close to Singapore, have declared a state of emergency to battle land and forest fires as the dry season is set to peak this month, officials say.
Three of the provinces hit by the forest fires are in Sumatra - Jambi, Riau and South Sumatra.
The other three are West, South and Central Kalimantan provinces.
There were 433 hot spots across Indonesia detected by satellites on Tuesday morning, with Riau recording the largest number at 132, according to the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB).
The government has sent nearly 5,700 firefighting teams to douse the fires in the various provinces, and also deployed 33 helicopters, along with two aircraft to seed clouds to induce rainfall.
The latest hot spot figures compare with over 750 hot spots just on Sumatra island alone in mid-October 2015 - at the peak of the national fire crisis, caused by massive burning to clear land for palm oil, paper and rubber plantations.
That year, Singapore, Malaysia and parts of Thailand and Indonesia were covered with choking haze for over a month.
In Riau, often the origin of the dense smoke that spreads to neighbouring countries, BNPB acting spokesman Agus Wibowo said the fires so far are concentrated in small areas and remain under control.
"Our team is working hard to fight fires in Riau. But so far, the concentration (of fires) is still small and therefore, the situation is still safe," he told a news conference yesterday.
The firefighting teams, comprising soldiers, police officers and disaster management officials, are spread in the villages. Dr Agus said helicopters would be called for water-bombing runs whenever a big fire gets too hard to control.
The government has sent 1,262 firefighters to Riau, and 17 helicopters stand ready in Riau, he added.
Dr Agus, referring to the forecast of continuing dry season until September, said: "(The) worse fires will still potentially happen, but with the joint team that works on the land and from the air, we hope we can avert the 2015 incident."
To curb fire starters, at least 16 people have been arrested so far this year, according to BNPB. No incidents involving companies have been reported so far.
Meanwhile, the Riau capital of Pekanbaru was blanketed by haze on Tuesday, but residents were able to conduct their activities as usual and there was no flight disruption from the main airport, according to local media reports.
The haze abated in Pekanbaru yesterday, Mr Jim Gafur, head of emergency response at the Riau disaster management agency, told The Straits Times.
He said the forest fires were from Langgam district in neighbouring Pelalawan regency, 35km away from Pekanbaru.
Firefighters have been deployed while three helicopters water-bombed the area, he said.
