Cobra and python spotted 'fighting' on NTU campus

Witnesses saw the python constricting itself around the head of the cobra around noon on Thursday (Aug 27). The python was taken away by pest control, but the cobra was only caught hours later.
Channel NewsAsia 27 Aug 15;

SINGAPORE: Two snakes, believed to be a reticulated python and a king cobra, were seen "fighting" each other on the street near Nanyang Technological University's (NTU) Research Techno Plaza (RTP) at noon on Thursday (Aug 27).

PhD student Abhishek Ambede shared pictures of the incident and told Channel NewsAsia the snakes were wrestling on the road beside a forested area. "Some of us working at RTP can see the site from our office. When we spotted the incident, I went down and noticed that the python had constricted around the cobra's head.

The tussle, witnessed by a large crowd, lasted for about 30 minutes before the snakes separated. "The cobra escaped to the bushes, leaving the python moving slowly on its own along the road."

Mr Abhishek said he and other bystanders alerted NTU's pest control, as well as the Animal Concerns Research and Society (ACRES). Pest control officers removed the python, but were unable to locate the cobra.

After 4pm, the cobra reappeared briefly. "It was about that time that ACRES appeared but by the time they arrived, the snake had disappeared again into one of the drainage holes," Mr Abhishek said.

"ACRES told us they could not catch the snake if they could not see it. All we know is that there is no immediate danger. The only worry is that if it reappears on the road, there is a chance it might get run over," he added.

Mr Satish Digen, a technical officer at NTU, said pest control officers put sulfur powder down the drains in an attempt to draw it out. The reptile eventually emerged from its hiding place at about 10pm on Thursday and was taken away in a bag by the pest control team.

The NTU Graduate Student Council earlier urged those on campus to be on alert for the cobra. "Please be careful when you take the sidewalk near to bushes. Night researchers and night runners, please be extra vigilant," it said in a post on Facebook.

- CNA/hs

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Indonesia: Palembang shrouded in worst haze so far this year

Haze so thick it obscures views of towers, with visibility dwindling to just 300m
Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja and David Fogarty Straits Times 28 Aug 15;

Haze that blanketed the South Sumatra provincial capital of Palembang during yesterday morning's rush hour was so thick it obscured the tops of tall cellphone towers and there is no relief in sight, weather forecasters said.

Emanating from forest and land fires in Jambi, as well as South Sumatra, the smothering shroud expanded north to neighbouring Riau, just one province removed from Singapore.

In Palembang, visibility dwindled to about 300m as residents endured a second straight day of the worst bout of haze so far this year, and the acrid smell of burnt peat hung heavily in the air.

On the Musi river, which flows through the city of 1.5 million people, the haze made navigation difficult. The Ampera Bridge, a major city landmark built during Sukarno's rule and opened in 1964, could barely be seen.

"The haze this morning was the worst so far this year," said speedboat driver Iwan, 35. "The haze is really making navigating much tougher," he added.

Hotel worker Yassir Abdullah, 25, said he was worried about coughing and respiratory problems, and feared the haze was going to get worse.

Indeed, there is little chance of rain in southern Sumatra in the coming months, according to Jambi's meteorology, climatology and geophysics office. "We cannot rely on nature to help douse the fire. Human efforts are needed," Mr Okta Irawan, a weather forecaster there, told The Straits Times.

With visibility dropping to as low as 500m in the mornings yesterday and Wednesday, flights to airports in Jambi and South Sumatra provinces were delayed.

South Sumatra provincial administration has started distributing 15,000 masks to its residents, after the number of hot spots rose to 125 on Wednesday (the latest available data), up from 44 the previous day.

The Jakarta Post reported that schools in Siak regency, Riau province, had sent home students because the haze had reached dangerous levels. Schools there will remain closed until tomorrow.

Prevailing winds were also carrying the haze to Singapore and parts of Malaysia.

Yesterday, the Singapore National Environment Agency's website showed a slight improvement in the haze situation. The 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) was in the moderate range as of 5pm yesterday, and is expected to remain at about the same level today.

Manjung in Perak had the unhealthiest air in Malaysia. Its Air Pollutant Index (API) spiked to 103 in the morning, according to The Star.

The API reading in Port Klang in Selangor reached 102.

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said Malaysia had written to Indonesia asking Jakarta to put out open burning fires as quickly as possible.

•With additional reporting by Linette Lai in Singapore


Indonesia: Haze disrupts Palembang airport, stops Garuda from landing
Thejakartapost.com 27 Aug 15;

A thick haze filling the air of South Sumatra provincial capital Palembang and its surrounding areas has disrupted flights to and from the city’s Sutan Mahmud Baharuddin II Airport.

The public relations manager of state-owned airport operator PT Angkasa Pura II, Achmad Syarir, said on Thursday that two planes had been unable to land at the airport due to limited visibility.

“We have not closed the airport yet, but there have been planes that could not land,” Achmad said as quoted by tempo.co. According to Achmad, a Garuda Indonesia flight arriving from Jakarta returned to Jakarta, while Garuda’s Bandung-Palembang route was redirected to Jakarta.

Meanwhile, airport authorities were not allowing any planes to take off from the airport.

Achmad said that he could not make any predictions regarding when the airport’s activity would back to normal. “It depends on conditions in the air. “The regulator will issue a statement on whether the airport will be closed or not,” he added.

Forest fires burning in Sumatra and Kalimantan have become an annual disaster, disrupting flights and causing health problems, particularly for local people. In previous years, the haze from the forest fires has also affected Singapore and Malaysia.

The government has not found a way to stop the wild fires. (bbn)

Indonesia: Thousands suffer respiratory infections as fires spread widely
Jon Afrizal and Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, The Jakarta Post 27 Aug 15;

Thousands of people in Jambi have been suffering from acute respiratory infections (ISPA) caused by worsening haze from widespread land and forest fires in the province.

“ISPA cases are found in all of the regencies and cities across Jambi. The cases are mostly found in Jambi city, where from June to July this year the number of ISPA cases reached 3,910, followed by East Tanjungjabung regency with 2,390 cases and Muarojambi regency with 1,690 cases,” said the Jambi Health Office’s Disease Control and Environmental Health Affairs head Kaswendi on Wednesday.

He added that those most susceptible to the disease are children, especially toddlers.

In regards to the matter, Jambi City Health Office head Ida Yuliati said her office had provided 200 masks to each community health clinic (Puskesmas) in the city as part of an effort to prevent an increase in the number of patients.

“We also provided 1,000 masks to the Education Office to be distributed to schools because children are exposed to cough and cold,” said Ida.

Separately, the West Sumatra Forestry Office is making strenuous efforts to prevent land and forest fires from escalating during the long drought.

Early this week, two land and forest fires reportedly broke out in Tanah Datar and Lima Puluh Kota regencies and razed dozens of hectares of forest.

The biggest fire took place in Pangian village, Lintau Buo district, Tanah Datar as about 30 hectares of production forest and rubber plantation were destroyed in two days. The fire started on Monday, but was extinguished on Wednesday.

“This is the third fire this year. The two earlier fires took place in other places and razed areas of less than five hectares,” said the head of the Tanah Datar Agriculture, Forestry and Plantation Office, Refriasel.

Two fires took place in Limapuluh Kota, one in Sarilamak village and the other in Taram village, both in Harau district. The fires, which were extinguished on Tuesday, destroyed more than five hectares of agricultural land and shrubs.

In Banyumas regency, Central Java, a fire destroyed a forest on Mount Slamet, at an elevation of around 2,900 meters, on Tuesday night.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the fire was still flaring at a height of around 8 meters and had scorched around 50 hectares of forest.

That fire was the second on Mount Slamet in the past week. Earlier, a forested area in Tegal regency part of the mountain was also razed, simultaneously with a forest fire on Mount Merbabu. The first fire on Mount Slamet was put out after three days. The fire gutted a total area of 15 hectares.

“Based on our observations since Tuesday evening, around 25 fires razed the forest in Banyumas. So far, seven of the fires have been doused,” said East Banyumas Integrated Forest Management (KPH) unit spokesman Taufik Didiet.

He added his office, the Indonesian Military (TNI), police, the local Perhutani state forestry enterprise, Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) and Search and Rescue coordinated to extinguish the fire.

The joint firefighting team claimed they faced difficulty in putting out the fire as its location was far up the slopes near the mountain peak.

“The firefighters had to walk for around eight hours from the Kalipagu post in Ketenger village, Baturraden district, which is the last village bordering directly with the forest,” said Taufik.

As from on Mt. Slamet, fires are currently burning areas on Mount Lawu and are reportedly approaching residential areas in Jenawi and Ngargoyoso districts, Karanganyar regency, Central Java.

“Teams of volunteers [who will help douse the fires] have not yet reached the locations since it’s very dangerous,” Karanganyar BPBD head Nugroho admitted.

The fires have also threatened a historic Cetho Temple complex built during the Majapahit Kingdom in the 15th century on the slope of the mountain, as well as Mount Lawu National Park.

— Ganug Nugroho Adi from Surakarta and Agus Maryono from Banyumas also contributed to the story

Schools sends home students as haze reaches dangerous level
Rizal Harahap, thejakartapost.com 27 Aug 15;

Schools in Siak regency, Riau province, have sent home students as haze reached levels dangerous to human health. The schools are scheduled to remain closed until Saturday.

“All schools from early age to senior high are temporary closed. The teachers are expected to remain at school,” said head of Siak Education Agency Kadri Yafis on Thursday, adding that school is expected to start again on Monday. “Hopefully, the haze will disappear. But if it does not, we will make a decision later.”

He advised parents to keep their children indoors due to the hazardous haze. Some parents welcomed the decision although it was made only on Thursday after many children were already in school.

“We have reached the schools, but the teachers sent the students home. They received a circular from the education agency about the temporary closures,” said Salman, one of the parents of an elementary school student in Biak.

Meanwhile, the Rokan Hulu Disaster Management head Aceng Herdiana said that 16 districts in the regency were also badly affected by the haze and smoke on Thursday, affecting flights to and from Tuanku Tambusai Pasirpangaraian airport in the regency. “A Wings Air’s plane was forced to delay its departure for 90 minutes due to low visibility,” Aceng said.

Meanwhile, head of Pekanbaru’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) said that the haze that is covering several regencies in Riau province came from forest fires in other provinces in Sumatra.

According to Terra and Aqua satellite, there are 178 hotspots across Sumatra, five of which are in Riau. South Sumatra with 80 hotspots is the worst province, followed by Jambi with 69 hotspots, Bangka Belitung with 10 hotspots, Lampung with six hotspots, West Sumatra and Bengkulu both with three and Aceh with two.

Meanwhile, Riau acting Governor Arsyadjuliandi Rachman has planned to prolong the haze emergency status in his province that has been in effect since April and was to expire on Aug. 31. “The forest fires in Riau have declined significantly, but haze is still covering Riau due to smoke from other provinces. The emergency status may be prolonged until Sept. 30,” he added. (bbn)

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Slight haze expected on Friday despite rain forecast: NEA

The air quality on Friday (Aug 28) is expected to be in the Moderate range, with showers forecast in the afternoon, says the National Environment Agency.
Channel NewsAsia 27 Aug 15;

SINGAPORE: “Occasional slightly hazy conditions” may be expected on Friday (Aug 28) afternoon, with air quality forecast to be in the Moderate range, said the National Environment Agency (NEA).

In an advisory, NEA added that showers are forecast in Singapore on Friday afternoon, and that prevailing winds are expected to continue blowing from the southeast.

NEA noted that there was an improvement in the haze situation on Thursday, attributing it to “a slight shift in the direction of the prevailing winds". The 3-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) at 6pm on Friday was 71, and the 24-hour PSI was 60-71, which is in the Moderate range. The three-hour PSI was 99 at 7pm on Tuesday, and the 24-hour PSI at the same time was 80-89.

Just 13 hotspots were detected in Sumatra on Thursday, down from 29 on Wednesday. However, NEA attributed the low hotspot count to "cloud cover". Smoke haze was also observed in the southern parts of Sumatra, said NEA.

“Given the air quality forecast for the next 24 hours, everyone can continue with normal activities,” said NEA.

- CNA/xq/dl

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Malaysia: Air quality over Malaysia improves

The Star 27 Aug 15;

KUALA LUMPUR: The air quality over Malaysia as of 11 am today has improved.

The Environment Department in its website stated that the air pollutant index (API) reading was moderate for Langkawi (77), Alor Setar and Nilai (74), Sungai Petani (73), Seri Manjung, Perak (70), Larkin Lama (63), and Muar (61).

Moderate API readings were also recorded for Pasir Gudang (59), Bakar Arang (74), SMK Tanjung Chat, Kota Baru (52), Bandaraya Malacca (64), Bukit Ramba (65), Port Dickson (69), Seremban (62), and Balok Baru, Kuantan (55).

It was moderate as well for Jerantut, Jalan Tasek, Ipoh, Kampung Air Putih, Taiping and Kangar, where the API readings were 68 respectively, and Perai (66), Seberang Jaya 2 (73), USM P (72), Keningau, Sabah (54), Kuching Sarawak (69), Samarahan (75), Sarikei (55), and Sri Aman (71).

Other 'moderate' areas were Kuala Selangor (72), Port Klang (86), Petaling Jaya (68), Shah Alam (76), Kuala Terengganu (60), Paka (60), Batu Muda, Kuala Lumpur (69), Cheras (62) and Putrajaya (69).

Meanwhile, areas that recorded a 'good' API reading were Kota Tinggi, Johor (39), Tanah Merah, Kelantan (41), Tanjung Malim, Perak (43), Sandakan, Sabah (32), Tawau (40), Bintulu, Sarawak (47), Miri (47), Kapit (37), Limbang (36), Sibu (49) and Labuan (46).

An API reading of between 0-50 is good; 51-100, moderate; 101-200, unhealthy; 201-300, very unhealthy; and more than 301, hazardous.

The public can obtain updates from the department's website at http://www.doe.gov.my. - Bernama

Avoid physical outdoor activities to avoid respiratory illnesses due to haze
Straits Times 27 Aug 15;

KUALA LUMPUR: People living in areas affected by the haze are advised to stay indoors, avoid outdoor physical activities and use face mask.

Health director-general Datuk Seri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the precaution was to avoid respiratory illnesses due to the haze.
“Ensure air quality inside the house and buildings is clean by reducing sources of smoke emission like smoking, using inner air circulation in cars when driving and drink a lot of water,” he said in a statement, today.

Dr Noor Hisham also advised everyone to wash their hands with soap and clean water after any form of activities outside and if affordable, use air conditioning when at home.

He said the Health Ministry through the State Health Departments was monitoring haze related illnesses like respiratory problems, shortness of breath, asthma, eye infection at health clinics.

As of 5pm today, the air quality in Muar and Melaka showed a marked improvement but many areas remained at the moderate level. – BERNAMA

Negri Sembilan record improvement in API readings
TEOH PEI YING New Straits Times 27 Aug 15;

SEREMBAN: The air quality showed a slight improvement at three monitoring stations in Negri Sembilan compared to Wednesday.

At 2pm today, the air pollutant index (API) readings in Seremban are recorded at 61, Nilai (75) and Port Dickson (66).

At 3pm yesterday, the API is Seremban was at 78, Nilai (79) and Port Dickson (72).

The air pollution level is categorised as — good (zero to 50), moderate (51-100), unhealthy (101 to 200), very unhealthy (201-300) and hazardous (301 and more).

It is believed that the perennial haze returned to Malaysia due to open burning fires in Indonesia. As of Tuesday, the satellites have detected 152 hot spots in Sumatra and 74 in Kalimantan.

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Malaysia: More turtles landing in Terengganu to lay eggs

The Star 28 Aug 15;

KEMAMAN: Efforts to boost the turtle population are bearing fruit after 120 new female turtles were recorded landing on the beaches of Terengganu to lay eggs.

State Fisheries Department director Abdul Khalil Abdul Karim said about 400 to 600 female turtles had landed during the egg-laying season from March to July each year since 2001.

“Our efforts to conserve turtles by hatching their eggs and releasing them into the sea since 15 years ago are succeeding. The turtles have matured and are landing to lay eggs,” he said here yesterday.

Abdul Khalil said an increase in the adult female turtle population showed the effectiveness of the turtle conservation programme by the department with non-governmental organisations such as the World Wildlife Fund.

He said the department would intensify conservation efforts by hatching eggs and releasing hatchlings into the sea daily to prevent the species from becoming extinct.

“We collected 366,941 eggs from 2,342 green turtle nests from January to July this year. All the eggs were incubated and between 200,000 to 300,000 hatchlings were released yearly,” he said. — Bernama

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Extreme Arctic sea ice melt forces thousands of walruses ashore in Alaska

Survival of walruses threatened as they wash ashore on a remote barrier island just before Obama is due to visit region to draw attention to climate change
Suzanne Goldenberg The Guardian 27 Aug 15;

The extreme loss of Arctic sea ice due to climate change is forcing thousands of walruses to crowd ashore on a remote barrier island off Alaska, and threatening their survival.

Barack Obama will be the first US president to visit the Alaskan Arctic on 31 August on a three-day tour to draw attention to the drastic consequences of climate change for the Arctic, such as warming winters and the rapid retreat of sea ice.

The first reported sighting of animals forced to come ashore in the Chukchi Sea was by a photographer on 23 August, and confirmed by villagers in the remote hamlet of Point Lay late on Thursday, the US Fish and Wildlife Service said.

Such landings, forced by the absence of sea ice on which to rest and feed, put the animals at risk of stampede in the limited space of the barrier island.

The animals are easily spooked by aircraft or onlookers, government scientists warned. Trampling deaths are one of the biggest natural risks.

Sea ice cover in the winter months fell to a new low this year because of climate change and abnormal weather patterns.

Some scientists believe the Arctic could be entirely ice-free in the summer months by the 2030s – with profound effects for local indigenous communities that rely on the ice, as well as wildlife that depend on extreme conditions.

Since 2000, the forced migration of walruses and their young to barrier islands such as Point Lay – known as a “haul out” – has become an increasingly regular occurrence, according to US government scientists.

“Many walruses seem to prefer the barrier islands just north of the native village of Point Lay to haul out,” Jim MacCracken, a supervisory wildlife biologist with the fish and wildlife service, said.

Last year, as many as 40,000 animals, mainly females and their young, were forced ashore. It was the biggest known haul-out of its kind in the US Arctic, according to government scientists. The Federal Aviation Authority re-routed flights and bush pilots were told to keep their distance to avoid a stampede.

Agency scientists said about 60 young walruses were killed because of crowding and stampedes.

“Walruses often flee haulouts in response to the sight, sound, or odor of humans or machines. Walruses are particularly sensitive to changes in engine noise and are more likely to stampede off beaches when planes turn or fly low overhead,” Andrea Medeiros, a spokeswoman for the fish and wildlife service, said in an email.

The villagers have been dreading the prospect of a repeat record haul-out – and earlier this month appealed to outsiders to keep away from the area.

“We do not believe that these sorts of visits are in the best interest of the walruses and they do not align with the haul out protection role we have developed and measures we set in place to prevent disturbances,” Leo Ferreira III, the Point Lay tribal president said in a statement distributed by US government agencies.

Gary Braasch, an environmental photographer, said he first spotted the walruses coming ashore on the southern end of the barrier island, about two miles from the hamlet of Point Lay, on the evening of 23 August.

Braasch has spent about a decade photographing evidence of climate change in Alaska, and had been tracking the movement of tagged walruses through the US Geological Survey mapping projects.

“What they looked like by eye was three brown smudges along the beach. They were not visible as individual animals,” he said. But he said the blown-up images revealed large numbers of animals. “Certainly they were in the low thousands at that point.”

Fish and Wildlife Service officials accused Braasch of violating flight safeguards and putting the animals at risk – a charge he rejected. “Several of our biologists looked at the images and noted that it appeared that many animals were on shore and appeared to be agitated and fleeing the area,” Medeiros said. “Harassing walrus is against the law. Operating an aircraft in a manner which results in harassing or disturbing walruses is prohibited by the Marine Mammal Protection Act.”

Braasch said the pilot did not overfly the barrier island, and intentionally flew several hundred feet beyond the Fish and Wildlife flight guidelines to avoid the risk of stampede. He said he took his photograph from more than a mile away. “We were not even close to the limits they set.”

He confirmed the government agency had been in contact about flight concerns.

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Best of our wild blogs: 27 Aug 15

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September School Holiday Activities at the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum
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Malaysia: Sabah Wildlife Dept denies elephant abuse during translocation process

KRISTY INUS New Straits Times 26 Aug 15;

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) wants to straighten things out following false allegations towards its rescue team of elephant abuse during translocation operation.

SWD referring to a Facebook posting circulating since a few days ago, admitted that while elephant translocation is a dangerous activity as each of the mammal react differently, there was no way its staff would harm or intended to abuse the wild animal.

The posting shared at the social media showed photographs of an elephant in chains and being poked by one of the Department's officer.

SWD director William Baya in a statement here explained the posting referred to a wild elephant being translocated from a human-elephant conflict area in Kampung Bauto, Telupid back in February last year, to a protected forest reserve some 200 kilometres away.

"In this particular case my team was up against a rogue bull elephant that was exceptionally dangerous and was a huge threat to the lives of the rescue personnel as well as the villagers.

"Hence the added precaution and care was taken by my staff. In normal cases when the wild elephants are more cooperative, the translocation process is done more smoother and with less risk," said William.

The Department's assistant director and Wildlife Rescue Unit manager Dr Sen Nathan explained elephant translocation involves tracking of the elephant, followed by darting tranquillizers, restraining, transportation and release to a safe site.

"As seen in the photo stills of the video the ‘poking’ happened during transfer of the elephant into the translocation crate... Different elephant will react differently towards this process and if the elephant is cooperative, they will let to move on their own while the chains are pulled.

"This process has to be done with care as if the elephant walks toward the wrong way, it might end up outside the crate and easily push the crate down and fall onto other personnel at the site.

"To sum up, poking using the blunt end metal pole is to divert the attention of the animal and so they walk in the right direction and not to hurt the animal, which is never our intention. Let me also assure your that this elephant was not hurt in anyway.

"This explanation I hope allays any fear of animal abuse by the Department," he added.

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Malaysia: Put out your fires fast, Wan Junaidi tells Indonesia

The Star 27 Aug 15;

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia wants Indonesia to put out its open burning fires quickly before the haze here worsens.

Natural Resources and Environ­ment Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar (pix) said Malaysia had written to Indonesia on the matter.

Indonesia has been urged to “take immediate action” and to “boost its fire-fighting efforts in the affected areas”, he said.

Malaysia’s concerns were made known to Indonesia’s Ministry of Environment and Forestry in a letter dated Monday.

As of Tuesday, satellites detected 152 hot spots in Sumatra and 74 in Kalimantan, he said.

Wan Junaidi said he would be meeting his counterpart in Jakarta soon to discuss the haze problem.

The meeting will also look at speeding up the signing of a transboundary haze prevention agreement between the two countries, he said.

Wan Junaidi said he would be chairing a national haze conference with various agencies here on Sept 28 to discuss emergency haze measures.

Some measures that had been taken, he said, included anti-open-burning patrols in February and a ban on open burning in some states since March last year.

From Jan 1 to Aug 23, a total of 3,117 open burning cases were detected nationwide, with 1,118 of these in farming areas, Wan Junaidi said.

Compound fines were issued in 199 cases while verbal warnings were given in 15 and written ­notices in 39 cases.

Legal action was being considered in 17 cases, Wan Junaidi added.

He said 194 Department of Environ­ment officers had been given the power to arrest anyone suspected of open burning or other environmental crimes.

Anyone found guilty of open burning can be fined up to RM500,000 or be jailed up to five years, or both.

Compound fines can run as high as RM2,000 for a single offence.

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Malaysia: Hazy till middle of next month

PATRICK LEE The Star 27 Aug 15;

PETALING JAYA: The haze is expected to go on until mid-September with the peninsula’s west coast suffering the most from Indonesia’s open burning.

Meteorological Department spokesman Dr Hisham Mohd Anip said the situation would likely continue until the southwest monsoon season ends.

Coastal states from Kedah down to Johor could be the hardest hit, he said.

He said Sarawak may see its haze situation improve over the next few days as the winds were set to change direction.

At the moment, winds from Indonesia were carrying the smoke from Kalimantan and Sumatra to Malaysia and Singapore.

Open burning at plantations and forest areas is common in Indonesia as it was the fastest and easiest method of clearing land.

Hisham said there could be more rain here next month when the winds change during the inter-monsoon period, which would help clear the haze.

But he warned that the Indonesian weather could also get drier, resulting in increased hot spots and more smoke being blown here unless the fires were put out before then.

The global El Nino weather phenomenon was also expected to increase the chances of hot and dry weather in Indonesia, Hisham added.

According to the Air Pollutant Index (API), Seri Manjung in Perak had the unhealthiest air in the country yesterday.

The API level there spiked to 103 at 11am before declining to 100 at 3pm.

Port Klang in Selangor had its highest API reading of 102 at 3am.

In George Town, Penang, CHRISTOPHER TAN reported that the air quality there continued to climb towards unhealthy levels ­yesterday.

The API reading in Seberang Jaya 2 went from 87 at 6am to 91 at 10am while in Gelugor, it was 89 at 6am and 97 at 10am.

In Prai, it was 78 at 6am and 81 at 10am.

By 1pm, the readings increased to 93 in Seberang Jaya 2, 98 in Gelugor and 83 in Prai.

The Sabah Meteorological Department director Abdul Malek Tussin said that the haze in the state was not as bad as that in the peninsula.

An API reading of between 0 and 50 is good, 51 to 100 is moderate, 101 to 200 is unhealthy, 201 to 300 is very unhealthy, while 301 and above is hazardous.

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Indonesia: Govt mulls over harsher sanctions for perpetrators of forest fires

The Jakarta Post 25 Aug 15;

The Environment and Forestry Ministry is considering levying harsher administrative punishments to increase the deterrent effect on companies that cause forest fires.

“Administrative sanctions, such as revoking and freezing concession permits, are the possible alternatives that we are now considering. It is hard [to implement new policy because of legal and practical challenges], but we have to be able to stop [the forest fires from starting],” Minister Siti Nurbaya said Monday at the ministry’s office.

The ministry said there was no strong legal basis to revoke or freeze permits and the consequences of revoking a permit brought practical challenges so the policy should be made carefully.

“So for example, we revoke a permit of 10,000 hectares of land: Who’s going to watch it after that? The area will be open to access and be prone to illegal use by many parties. We have limited manpower to watch over the area,” the ministry’s spokesperson Eka W. Soegiri told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

The ministry’s director general for law enforcement, Rasio Ridho Sani, said it is hoped that the administrative sanctions would deter those who make fires in the forests, alongside the legal sanctions that had been applied so far.

Recently, the Rokan Hilir District Court in Riau sentenced the assistant of a plantation head with PT Jatim Jaya Perkasa (JJP), Kosman Vitoni Imanuel Siboro, to two years in prison, as well as a fine of Rp 1 billion (US$71,942) or three more months internment, for burning 120 hectares of land to open a palm oil plantation in June 2013.

Siboro was convicted of violating Article 98 and 116 of Law No. 32/2009 on environment protection and management. Article 98 stipulates the punishment for individuals who intentionally damage the environment, while Article 116 stipulates that in the case of any crimes done for, by or in the name of a corporation, the plaintiff can sue the corporation and/or its leaders.

The ministry has also filed criminal lawsuit against PT Jatim Jaya Perkasa over the same case with the Rokan Hilir Court.

Separately, a civil lawsuit has also been filed with the North Jakarta District Court against the company, demanding Rp 119.88 billion in fines for damaging the environment and Rp 371.12 billion for the recovery of the area. Both trials are now in process.

In a bigger case, it filed civil lawsuits with the Palembang Court District in South Sumatra against PT Bumi Mekar Hijau for allegedly causing fires in 20,000 hectares of land in Ogan Komering Ilir, South Sumatra.

It demanded fines of Rp 2.6 trillion for damaging the environment and Rp 5.2 trillion for its recovery.

“This case gets most of our attention. If we win this, we can save the state Rp 7 trillion,” Rasio said.

PT Bumi Mekar Hijau is a subsidiary of Asia Pulp and Paper. It has concessions of 250,370 hectares of land in Ogan Komering Ilir. Based on data from the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), most of the hot spots in the province are on the company’s concessions.

Besides bringing cases to court, the current Environment and Forestry Ministry has also made a breakthrough in law enforcement.

“After cases of land and forest fires, we set an investigation line [similar to police line, but issued from the ministry] on the land so nobody could use the land before the case closed. Before, the government did not do this so the land could still be used although the case was not settled yet,” Rasio told the Post.

The ministry has been actively suing plantation companies for forest fires since 2013. The cheapness of the practice of slashing and burning to open forest areas has made it difficult for the companies to stop the practice.

Haze continues to emerge from the regions even now. (rbk)

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Indonesia: Haze worsens in Riau and Jambi, schools shut down

Rizal Harahap and Jon Afrizal, The Jakarta Post 26 Aug 15;

Haze has worsened in the neighboring provinces of Riau and Jambi on Sumatra Island during the last few days, forcing local authorities to send students home.

In Riau, visibility continued to decrease.

Based on observations conducted by the Pekanbaru office of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), visibility in the provincial capital on Tuesday morning was only 500 meters.

In Rengat and Dumai, visibility was 2 and 3 kilometers respectively.

“The haze has also negatively impacted the air quality in various regions in Riau. It is currently at moderate to unhealthy levels, or between 100 and 199 PSI,” head of the office’s data and analysis section, Slamet Riyadi, said on Tuesday.

He said the haze that is presently covering various regions in Riau came from provinces in southern Sumatra due to the wind that blew from the southeast to the west and the north throughout Riau.

Among the provinces blamed for having sent the haze to Riau were Jambi and South Sumatra, where 33 and 38 hot spots respectively were detected on Tuesday morning.

Slamet said that the Terra and Aqua satellites on Tuesday morning also detected six hot spots in Aceh, two in Lampung and one in Bengkulu.

“In total there were 85 hot spots detected across southern Sumatra,” he said, adding that the same satellites detected only four hot spots in Riau on Tuesday morning, one each in Indragiri Hulu, Indragiri Hilir, Kampar and Pekanbaru.

Thick haze forced two flights to hold for a while before landing at Pekanbaru Sultan Syarif Kasim II International airport. The airplanes were forced to wait in order for visibility to improve.

“Both the planes could finally land safely as the visibility increased to 1,000 meters,” the airport’s officer in charge Hasnan Siregar said, adding that the haze so far had not disturbed departure schedules.

Meanwhile in Jambi, haze forced the authorities in East and West Tanjungjabung regencies to send students home from Monday for an indeterminable time.

“The haze endangers the students’ health, and that is why we sent them home,” West Tanjungjabung Regent Usman Ermulan said on Tuesday, adding that the policy applied only up to junior high school students.

He said his administration also distributed free masks to people to help lessen the negative health effects of the haze.

“We will also ask the health agency a check on the haze content in the air to make sure of its security level,” he said.

Haze due to land fires also still covered the Mendahara Ulu district and East Tanjungjabung regency. Firefighters were still trying to extinguish the fire as of today.

“We decided to temporarily send students in the region home because we consider the haze dangerous,” head of East Tanjungjabung Education Agency’s elementary education division, P. Sidabutar, said.

He said the policy, which was applied only to pre-schools pupils and first and second graders, was made in anticipation of new problems that might emerge because of the thickening haze in Mendahara Ulu.

He said he could not yet determine when learning activities would return to normal.

He even said that if the haze worsened, there was a possibility that all the schools in the region would be temporarily shut down.

Thick haze engulfs Palangkaraya
thejakartapost.com 25 Aug 15;

A thick haze filled the air of the Central Kalimantan provincial capital of Palangkaraya on Tuesday as brush and forest fires spread to wider areas, potentially causing health problems.

Residents have expressed a hope that the government would distribute free masks for them. “As the smokes become thicker, the government needs to distribute free masks,” said Wardi, a motorcycle rider in Palangkaraya, as quoted by tribunnews.com on Tuesday.

He said thick smoke had caused pain in his eyes while riding.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has predicted the haze will worsen in Palangkaraya, where motorists are already turning on their headlights to help improve the visibility.(++++)

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