Reuters 15 Aug 19;
JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia has sealed parts of palm oil and timber concessions owned by 10 companies on Borneo island after a spate of forest fires, authorities said on Thursday, warning those involved in forest burning would be severely punished.
Indonesia is under pressure to end slash-and-burn clearance of land, often on plant palm and pulp plantations. The practice caused devastating fires in 2015 that spread a choking haze across most of Southeast Asia.
The disaster mitigation agency (BNPB) recorded 1,092 hot spots as of Thursday, the highest since the 2015 fires, and at least six provinces on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo have declared an emergency.
About 200 hectares (494 acres) of land had been sealed in Borneo’s West Kalimantan province, the environment ministry said.
Warning letters were also sent to 58 plantation firms with hot spots indicating fire or a high risk of fire, said Rasio Ridho Sani, the ministry’s director general of law enforcement.
“Corporations which are found to be involved in forest burning must be punished severely,” Sani said in a statement.The fires had mostly broken out in palm and timber concessions, said the ministry, which only identified the companies by their initials.
Authorities have deployed 36 helicopters and 9,072 personnel to monitor the situation and put out fires when detected.
President Joko Widodo has threatened to replace military and police officers fighting forest fires from their posts if they fail to extinguish the flames.
In Sumatra, fire had also broken out in Tesso Nilo, a 81,700-hectare national park in the province of Riau, according to the environment ministry. The park is a habitat for critically endangered tigers and elephants.
Indonesia steps up fight against fires
The Star 15 Aug 19;
Jakarta: The Indonesian authorities are stepping up efforts to battle forest fires as the number of hot spots has climbed steadily in the past weeks and smoke has blanketed parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan since last week.
At least 644 hot spots were detected across the archipelago from July 31 to Aug 6, and the figure rose about 16% to 749 from Aug 7 to 13, according to the Environment Ministry’s forest fire monitoring system.
In West Kalimantan, the figure rose by 172% to 429 over the same period.
Smoke was detected in the provinces of Riau, which is close to Singapore, West Kalimantan, which shares a land border with Malaysia, and Central Kalimantan yesterday, said Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysical Agency.
On Monday, students were sent home as smoke blanketed Central Kalimantan’s provincial capital Palangkaraya and the PSI air quality measurement jumped to 495, indicating hazardous conditions.
Prevailing winds were blowing from the south-east northwards towards Malaysia. The agency said it also detected the first transboundary smoke this year in the area bordering West Kalimantan and Malaysia’s Sarawak.
The emergency response team has deployed two more helicopters for water bombing, bringing the overall units deployed nationwide to 36, said National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) acting spokesman Agus Wibowo.
The additional aircraft will fight fires in West Kalimantan and South Sumatra, which are among the country’s most fire-prone regions.
Dr Agus added that the military would also aid the intensive effort with Hercules aircraft.
“We are carrying out water bombing on a daily basis now, ” he said. “We are worried about a repeat (of the 2015 fire crisis) and we are all trying to end the (existing) fires.”
In 2015, raging fires in Riau and parts of Sumatra spread choking haze into parts of Singapore and Malaysia for over a month.
In other efforts, the State Intelligence Agency will be involved in finding out the perpetrators of land and forest fires, and law enforcement will be intensified, Dr Agus said.
On Monday, Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar, along with BNPB chief Doni Monardo, National Police chief Tito Karnavian and Indonesian military commander Hadi Tjahjanto, visited Riau to monitor forest-fire handling on the ground. Air Chief Marshal Hadi vowed to take action against those caught lighting fires.
The police have so far tackled 68 cases and arrested 60 suspects, National Police spokesman Dedi Prasetyo said separately. — The Straits Times/Asia News Network
