Antara 4 Oct 15;
S Sulawesi (ANTARA News) - The government will propose a life insurance assistance for 1.2 million holders of Welfare Family Card (KKS) affected by thick smoke from hundreds of forest and land fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan.
"We have communicated with the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) regarding a life insurance assistance for the affected people. It is possible for them to get a life insurance assistance," Social Affairs Minister Khofifah Indar Parawansa said here on Sunday.
According to Parawansa, the haze disaster caused by forest and land fires had disrupted the income of the affected people.
"The Social Service Ministry has calculated the number of the affected people. Nearly 25 percent or 1.2 million of the poor people in six provinces currently hold Welfare Family Card (KKS)," she said.
"The plan is being discussed by the Directorate General of Budget, Ministry of Finance," she said.
Based on the proposal, she noted, every person will receive a grant of Rp10,000 for 90 days.
According to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), tens of thousands of Indonesians have been treated for upper tract respiratory infection caused by thick smoke.
The National Police Headquarters is currently handling 236 cases of forest and plantation fires in the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan.
"Up till October 2, 2015, the National Police have handled 236 reports of forest and plantation arson," Head of the National Polices Crime Investigation Department (Bareskrim) Commissioner General Anang Iskandar, said here, Saturday.
The cases involve 190 individuals and 46 companies including two foreign corporations.
The police have also named 216 suspects in those cases.
"Of the 216 suspects, 205 are individuals, and 11 are connected to corporations," he stated.
Further, he explained that of the 216 suspects, only 72 have been detained. They comprise 67 individuals and five suspects representing corporations.
Of the total, four cases are handled by Bareskrimhas, 34 cases by the South Sumatra provincial police, 68 cases by the Riau provincial police, 20 cases by the Jambi provincial police, 61 cases by the Central Kalimantan provincial police, 29 cases by the West Kalimantan provincial police, 9 cases by the South Kalimantan provincial police and 11 cases by the East Kalimantan provincial police 11.
The two foreign companies being investigated are PT ASP of China, which is being handled by the Central Kalimantan provincial police, and PT KAL of Australia, which is being handled by the West Kalimantan provincial police.(*)
S. Sumatra Companies Face Charges Over Fores Fires
Jakarta Globe 4 Oct 15;
Jakarta. Two more corporations and 126 individuals who are allegedly responsible for the slash-and-burn practices causing the forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan have been criminally charged by the National Police, a source revealed on Tuesday.
To date, the police have investigated a total of 130 incidents and 24 companies involved in the paper and palm oil businesses, but have only been able to charge three companies. Bumi Mekar Hijau, which operates in Riau, was the first corporation to be charged for the offense this year. On Tuesday, a police source revealed that Tempirai Palm Resources and Waymusi Agro Indah, both located in Ogan Komering Ilir district of South Sumatra, have also been charged.
President Joko Widodo visited Ogan Komering Ilir last week to personally inspect efforts to control forest fires, which have affected the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan and are also sending choking haze as far as Singapore and Malaysia.
During the visit, Joko instructed National Police chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti, who accompanied the president, to not only investigate individuals involved but also corporations believed to be using slash-and-burn practices to clear land to make way for rubber and oil palm plantations.
Director of the police's criminal investigation department Brig. Gen. Yazid Fanani defended the process of investigations saying, “don't compare [investigations] in the field with those done in Jakarta. We have to deal with bushes, mountains, jungles and ravines. [At times, we can't] even access areas because there are no roads.”
Badrodin echoed the sentiment on Tuesday, saying that slash-and-burn cases are more difficult to solve than those involving drugs or terrorism. “In terrorism and drugs [cases], we have access to preliminary information, there’s the links and networks [of offenders],” he said, adding the police in such cases can also question people who know the suspects and use wiretapping or tracking methods to go after perpetrators.
“However, for [forest] fires, [the problem is] how do we get this [preliminary information] fast, and [how do we figure out] who started it?,” Badrodin said.
Badrodin added that satellite technology can now detect a fire, but there are also drawbacks, “we can’t possibly install CCTV to monitor every [part of] the forests."
However, some Indonesian scientists and businesses have called on the government to revise laws that allow for small subsistence farmers to perform slash-and-burn practices.
Meanwhile, the World Resources Institutes said in a statement on Saturday that fires have reached crisis levels in South Sumatra and Kalimantan, arguing that the situation is worse this year than the major outbreaks in June 2013, March 2014 and November 2014.
The WRI said satellites have detected 1,189 "high-confidence" fire alerts, exceeding the highest peaks of the last two years and it said “many of the fires, which are used to clear land for agriculture, are occurring on carbon-rich peat soils, causing widespread haze.”
Sumatra hospital says no jump in acute respiratory illnesses despite haze
Hospitals in South Sumatra are not seeing a rise in serious respiratory illnesses due to haze, says hospital director Dr Mohammad Syahril.
Jack Board Channel NewsAsia 4 Oct 15;
PALEMBANG: Despite making emergency preparations, hospitals in South Sumatra are not seeing a rise in serious respiratory illnesses due to lingering and hazardous haze, according to staff at one of the region's largest facilities on Saturday (Oct 3).
Since the beginning of September, the state-run RSUP Dr Mohammad Hosein Hospital in Palembang has placed a haze contingency team of eight doctors and three nurses on standby 24 hours a day to respond to any escalation in the situation.
At least 125,000 people are suffering from haze-related illnesses across Indonesia, said the head of the country's National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPNB), Willem Rampangilei.
But according to hospital director Dr Mohammad Syahril, the air pollution, which at times has exceeded 1,000 API in South Sumatra, is not causing problems for the health system. "The impact of the smoke is not really heavy," he said. "The increase in the number of people suffering from ISPA (acute respiratory system infection) is not big."
Dr Mohammad said although his hospital and the local government understood the possible severity of the situation, not all locals heeded the warnings.
"Most of them take this as a serious problem, but some don't. If the situation is like this they're still not aware about wearing a mask," he said. He added that most people will only seek treatment at public health clinics and general practitioners if they are suffering from eye, throat or skin ailments.
He argued that even the cases of patients admitted to the hospital with severe ISPA may not be related to the haze problem. "We can't be sure. Although a long time ago there was no smoke, there was still ISPA," he said.
Local media reported that several children had died from respiratory illnesses in Riau and Jambi, but officials said it could not be confirmed if the cases were conclusively haze-related.
A report released last year by Greenpeace found that an average of 110,000 people across Indonesia die every year as a result of long-term exposure to the hazardous conditions. The casualties peaked in 1997-98 at about 300,000 when El Nino conditions prolonged the dry season.
A study in the nature journal Nature estimated that worldwide, 3.3 million people die every year from air pollution, most of them in Asia. This year is set to be one of the most severe events on record, according to scientists at NASA, and on a similar trajectory to the crisis years when deaths increased.
However, Dr Mohammad said his hospital has recorded no haze-related deaths and said the number of admissions were only up 10 per cent on normal months.
'THERE ARE MANY OTHER PROBLEMS'
At a primary level, many local people visit smaller health clinics if they are feeling unwell. In one Palembang clinic, there have been consistent numbers of people complaining about haze-related illness, but no serious cases that required further medical attention, said midwife Fitri.
"There have been more patients than normal but still not too many," she said. "Many of them are complaining about having fever and a sore throat as well as asthma."
At Ogan Kemering Ilir, where most of the hotspots have been recorded in South Sumatra in 2015, locals said they were worried about the health impacts, but despite the risks, chose not to wear glasses, face masks or long sleeves to negate the impact of living and working around smoke.
"Actually it really disturbs our health but there are many other problems we have. Lots of our land is burning. The people here are losing their business," said local farmer Eddy.
Most schools have also remained open in the region throughout the crisis, but in West Sumatra, authorities on Friday ordered kindergartens to close indefinitely and consider closing elementary schools if the situation worsened.
Health officials have advised people to take precautionary measures and ensure they are hydrated and stay indoors when possible.
- CNA/xq
Respiratory cases up but most residents shrug off bad air
Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja The Straits Times AsiaOne 4 Oct 15;
The air is thick with smoke that to this correspondent is unbearable to breathe in, but at an open-air Internet cafe in Central Kalimantan provincial capital Palangkaraya, eight out of every 10 of the young people who are about 20 to 30 years old are without a mask.
Sitting on wooden benches, they are intent on surfing the Internet and checking e-mail at this outdoor facility with affordable Wi-Fi connection, oblivious to the hazardous air that they are breathing in.
This was the spot my colleague, photographer Seah Kwang Peng, and I sent our photos and stories from last Thursday when the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) hit 1,800, way over the 350 mark, above which the air is considered hazardous.
The air was so heavy, it felt like liquid was seeping into my nose the moment I took off my mask. I put the mask back on quickly, so unbearable it was to breathe in the dense and acrid air. My eyes also watered the way they would not at, say, PSI 400, the reading in Sumatra when I was covering the haze there in 2013. I could also take the mask off for a minute or two then.
Yet, when the people at the Internet cafe were asked why they were not wearing a mask, a college student sitting on one of the benches who identified himself as Mr Hamdi said: "We are used to it."
Palangkaraya has been suffering from hazardous haze from the illegal burning of forests to clear land for cultivation for more than a month now, with the PSI breaching 2,000 in the fourth week of last month and hitting a record high of 2,300 for Indonesia on Sept 26.
The majority of its residents, however, have been stoic about the discomfort from the bad air and doing little to protect themselves from it, possibly because they underestimate its dangers.
"They don't know what the haze could do to their health. They may not suffer now, but later... as a long-term effect, they may do. The worst case is they could get lung cancer," Dr Theodorus Sapta Atmaja, head of human resources and public relations of the state-owned Doris Sylvanus hospital, told The Sunday Times.
To increase awareness among the people of the need to wear a mask to protect themselves against the haze, local governments throughout Central Kalimantan province have stepped up campaigns.
A huge street billboard in Palangkaraya had bold letters that read: "Warning!!! Haze could cause upper respiration infection - wear a mask, drink 2 litres of water a day, eat fruits and vegetable, reduce outdoor activity and have enough sleep."
Ms Gayantri, 27, a divorcee who lives in a 35 sq m landed house with her mother and only daughter in the Antang Kalang area of the city, has tried her best to keep the haze out of her house.
"We bought a second fan, turned both of them on and closed all the windows tight," she said. "This would help us get a good night's sleep."
But during the day, even when they are outdoors and the PSI level is hovering around 2,000, Ms Gayantri and her family do not bother to wear masks.
Not everyone is throwing caution to the wind, however.
For university lecturer Ester Sonya, wearing a mask is her new day-to-day norm, not only outdoors, but also at home when she is in the kitchen or living room. This is because the haze has permeated her house, she said.
When this correspondent spoke with the 45-year-old last Thursday at the Doris Sylvanus hospital, she was seeing a lung specialist for a haze-related problem, after dosing herself with cough medicine did not help her condition.
But Ms Ester, who has an eight-year old son, had put a strategy to work three weeks ago when the haze got uncomfortable, to protect her whole family.
"We have designated one air-conditioned bedroom in the house for daily living, sealing it by taping the windows from the inside and the door. This bedroom has become our home now. We sleep and do most of our daily activities there," she said.
It was possibly a wise move, for the number of upper respiratory cases (or locally called Ispa) in Palangkaraya has been rising steeply in the past two months.
While most Ispa cases can be treated on an outpatient basis, those with pre-existing conditions like asthma and weak lungs need to be hospitalised, said Dr Theodorus.
The number of Ispa inpatients at Doris Sylvanus was 34 last month, up from 18 in August.
Children in the age groups of one to four and five to 14 have been the most vulnerable.
Schools in the city were closed for three weeks from Sept 10 to keep the children at home. However, parents had to go to the schools to pick up their children's homework, so that they could keep up with their schoolwork.
"We make parents go to school and students stay home.
"Every Friday, morning to noon, parents are invited to pick up homework instructions at school," said Ms Masmunik Tambang, 59, a teacher at the Langkai primary school in the city centre, who has been teaching for 35 years.
Last Friday, schools were allowed to resume but were told to close again from yesterday to Tuesday as thick haze came back.
"This is the longest forced holiday period I have ever experienced (because of the haze)," said Ms Masmunik.
A new normal: Life goes on for Indonesians despite haze
Despite the API rising to hazardous levels, life goes on for the people of South Sumatra, with many choosing to ignore warnings to remain indoors.
Jack Board Channel NewsAsia 5 Oct 15;
PALEMBANG: Three boys laughed and shouted as they kicked a dusty football around on the lake's edge at Kambang Iwak Park on Sunday afternoon (Oct 4).
It is a popular place for sport and leisure for families and children, especially on the weekends, and under a sky leaking a sallow yellow hue, the 12-year-olds were largely untroubled by the unhealthy air.
Like for many other local people, despite a thick haze hanging over South Sumatra, life goes on. The Air Pollution Index (API) has risen to deeply hazardous levels in Palembang over the past few weeks, caused by fires burning in forests and plantations throughout the region.
Despite advice to remain indoors and wear a face mask, most do not take heed. The boys playing football said the weather does not affect their game. "We always play, it doesn't matter if it's smoky. But we do get tired more quickly," one of them said.
They are far from alone. On a busy running track, two joggers set the pace despite the API hovering around 300.
Sahrul and Rio are members of the Indonesian army and said they need to remain fit, even if the weather is far from ideal. "We run at least 10 kilometres every day, and we're used to the smoke so it doesn't affect us. " Sahrul said. "Our eyes and throats are fine."
Another jogger, Rico, 14, said he would rather not be outdoors, but the hazy conditions have prolonged and he wants to keep fit. "I'm worried about my lungs, it's harder to run now," he said.
Right across the city, there are clear signs of the local population having become accustomed to the haze and ignoring any warnings from health authorities to take precautions.
Yet, at least 125,000 people are suffering from haze related illnesses across Indonesia, according to the head of the country's National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPNB), Willem Rampangilei.
But the futsal courts are constantly in use, people are walking the dogs and a group stands in a circle in a makeshift karate competition. It is the new normal in the middle of an environmental crisis.
- CNA/yt
Indonesian govt 'taking multiple steps to battle haze'
Francis Chan Straits Times AsiaOne 4 Oct 15;
Indonesia faces a monumental challenge in resolving the decades-old haze crisis but with President Joko Widodo, there is hope, said his chief of staff Teten Masduki.
The Joko administration has already done more than any previous administration, in terms of how it has responded to the current state of emergency, he added.
However, Mr Teten said he is aware the problem is more pressing this time because Indonesia is not just fighting fires in its own backyard but also going up against Mother Nature, with the vast archipelago experiencing an extended dry spell.
"If you compare with 2014, it is certainly more difficult for our government to solve this problem, and a lot of it is due to the weather and the impact of El Nino," said Mr Teten. El Nino refers to the climate phenomenon that causes a warming trend conducive to burning.
Speaking to The Sunday Times at his office in the Bina Graha presidential complex in Jakarta on Friday, Mr Teten outlined the President's three-pronged approach to deal with the haze.
The first was to deploy thousands of troops to support the Environment and Forestry Ministry's early response to get the flames under control. These measures include water bombing and cloud seeding - which creates artificial rain to douse the fires - as well as building canals to make it easier for landowners to "re-wet" gambut or dry peatland, which burns easily.
Next was the unprecedented step of openly going after those who practise outlawed slash-and-burn techniques to clear land, to cultivate crops like oil palm.
"We know very well that forest fires are an economic crime," said Mr Teten. "They burn the forest to cut the cost for land clearing, mostly at oil palm plantations. So, the President gave a very firm direction to the chief of police to implement the harshest sanctions against not just persons but also companies that are involved in the burning."
Hundreds of suspects have been arrested, and investigations into several plantation firms suspected of starting illegal forest fires have begun. Firms and landowners found guilty could have their business licences revoked and may also be subjected to criminal prosecution.
Another move was to restrict errant landowners from using the land for other businesses, trade or as collateral for loans, said Mr Teten.
No other president has put in place such economic disincentives to prevent future incidents of burning. "So I think this message is very strong," he added.
Mr Teten was made Chief of Presidential Staff just a month ago. The former anti-graft activist is a close aide of Mr Joko. He took over from another Joko insider, Mr Luhut Pandjaitan, who was appointed Coordinating Minister for Security and Political Affairs as part of a recent Cabinet reshuffle.
Mr Teten said he was given the task of coordinating Indonesia's efforts to deal with the haze by Mr Joko. "My duty is to control and make sure that our Posko, or haze task force, is working, and to coordinate their efforts with the other ministries under Pak Luhut."
The transboundary haze crisis this year has sent air pollution levels soaring, affecting millions across Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Some observers remain sceptical about whether Mr Joko is able to fix such a longstanding issue. But others, like Singapore Institute of International Affairs chairman Simon Tay, said it is clear the haze crisis is a priority for Mr Joko, who has said it may take up to three years to solve the problem.
Professor Tay said Mr Joko is fighting the fires, and has also pledged to prosecute the firms behind the fires. "If these efforts proceed efficiently and effectively, it will be something not seen before," he said. "The fires and haze are, first and foremost, an economic loss to Indonesia, and most hazardous to its citizens. This is now recognised by the Jokowi government."
Dr Nirarta Samadhi, from the World Resources Institute, said the public should not expect the issue to be entirely solved in three years. "It is too complex for that but, with a concerted effort on transparency and prevention, we could, hopefully, eliminate these extreme public health crises in the coming fire seasons."
Hot spots doubled in Central Kalimantan
Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja Straits Times AsiaOne 4 oct 15
Indonesia's Central Kalimantan province continued to be shrouded in thick haze as the Pollutant Standards Index in its capital Palangkaraya rose to 1,917 before sensors stopped sending updates after 11am yesterday.
The province has been the worst hit by forest fires raging over land embedded with coal deposits that make them almost impossible to put out during this dry spell. This has led to a spike in the number of hot spots recorded by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, particularly in September this year.
Data from the ministry show that Central Kalimantan - on Borneo island - registered 12,327 hot spots in September this year, compared with just 5,574 fires in the same month last year. South Sumatra, the other badly hit province, on Sumatra island saw about 11,450 hot spots, more than three times the number in the same period last year. This brought the total number of hot spots in September to 39,672 this year, compared to just under 15,000 fires recorded last year.
Central Kalimantan is struggling to deal with the haze that forced schools to close again after they reopened for one day on Friday. Schools had previously been forced to close for a record three weeks from Sept 10. "We water-bombed the fires in Pulang Pisau regency on Friday, but the fires re-emerged at the same spots this morning, coming from underneath," Ms Rani Anggraini at the Central Kalimantan governor's office told The Sunday Times by telephone yesterday.
A much larger amount of water - possible only through rains induced by cloud seeding - is needed to put out the fires in Pulang Pisau, where the layers of peatland can reach more than 5m deep. "We are closely monitoring (the situation). Cloud-seeding operations will start as soon as Central Kalimantan has clouds," Ms Rani said.
On Friday, clouds that had the potential to be seeded formed above Central Kalimantan. But they did not stay for long before they were broken up by winds and blown towards West Kalimantan province and Sumatra island, she added.
Cloud seeding in Central Kalimantan may only be possible above Pangkalan Bun city, which is to the west of the province near the border with West Kalimantan and about 400km west of Pulang Pisau. But the areas most hit by fires are to the south and south-east of the province.
Forest and plantation fires have intensified since August, causing more than 100,000 Indonesians nationwide to suffer upper respiratory infections or colds, delaying hundreds of flights at affected airports and temporarily shutting schools.
Thousands of troops have been deployed in Sumatra and Kalimantan to help douse fires.
Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar has underlined three challenges in fire fighting operations. They are: The availability of ground water to douse fire is declining and the prolonged dry weather - coupled with high temperature - is worsening the fires. In addition, ground fire-fighting crew have started to have their health affected due to exhaustion and exposure to haze.
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