Jakarta Globe 20 Sep 15;
Jakarta. Fires that have cloaked large swaths of Sumatra in a choking haze, spreading as far as Singapore, have destroyed at least 58,000 hectares of forest on the Indonesian island, an official said.
Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar said on Sunday that the government was investigating nearly 300 companies for alleged slash-and-burn practices.
“In total there are 276 [private business] entities [with areas which have been on fire]. Some have not been identified because they are cooperatives and bearers of land use permits, which are under the auspices of the National Land Agency,” she said.
“There are 147 [unidentified entities]. But from an environmental standpoint they are being suspected of violating the law.”
Siti said her office has deployed at least 200 officers to investigate firms with concessions on which fires had been detected, suspecting them of slash-and-burn practices.
“We will analyze [the officers' findings] to determine if [the firms] can be penalized or even have their operations suspended,” she said.
The government has launched a crackdown on companies found to be involved in slash-and-burn agriculture, promising to publish a list of violators before the end of the year.
"We're drafting the list as we await the administration process. It won't take long, [we'll have it ready] in December at the latest," Siti told reporters in Jakarta on Friday.
According to Siti, the companies will be categorized into three levels and punished accordingly.
The different punishments are meted out based on the amount of land burned, with the first category being 100 hectares or less, the second being 100-500 hectares, and for those involved in burning over 500 hectares or more, the company's operation permit will, at the very least, be revoked by the local government.
"It should only take a week for permit withdrawal. If the local governments [don't] do it, the ministry will," the minister said, adding the government would take over the concession area in that case.
To date, authorities have named 10 firms as suspects over forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimatan.
The haze was reported to have reached West Sumatra on Sunday from the epicenter of the disaster some 300 kilometers east in Jambi and Riau provinces. Visibility was as low as 100 meters in some areas of West Sumatra, which, unlike the other provinces on the island, has not registered any fire hot spots.
The smoke has led to some 4,000 complaints about respiratory ailments among residents of West Sumatra.
Haze crisis escalates
Syofiardi Bachyul Jb and Syamsul Huda M. Suhari, The Jakarta Post 20 Sep 15;
With no sign of immediate recovery, regions enveloped by smoke produced from land and forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan have continued to struggle not only with the impact of deteriorating air quality, but also with the expansion of affected areas.
In West Sumatra, a Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) station in Bukit Kototabang, Agam regency, reported that the air quality in areas around the station had dropped to the “dangerous” zone after its level of particulate matter (PM10) was measured at 436 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m³) on Saturday morning, the highest level recorded this year.
According to the government’s existing guidelines, air quality is considered “healthy” if its PM10 level stands below 50 µg/m³, “moderate” when the level stands between 50 and 150 µg/m³, “unhealthy” between 150 and 350 µg/m³, “very unhealthy” between 350 and 420 µg/m³ and “dangerous” when it surpasses 420 µg/m³.
“At 10 a.m. the PM10 level in areas around the station stood at 408 µg/m³ and quickly increased to 436 µg/m³ by noon. Several hours later, the returned to the ‘very unhealthy’ level”, station head Edison Kurniawan told The Jakarta Post.
Agam, home to 500,000 people, is located 100 kilometers northwest of the West Sumatra provincial capital of Padang, which has also been struggling with the impact of thick haze over the past few weeks.
Edison said the high intensity of haze in Agam had been mainly caused by the increasing number of hot spots from wildfires in southern Sumatra, including in neighboring Riau and Jambi provinces.
“Today, the air condition is very poor. Even those living in Bukittinggi are now starting to smell the smoke,” he said, referring to a popular resort city located 100 kilometers north of Padang.
Jimi Metrison, a Bukittinggi resident, said that thick haze had begun to blanket his hometown on Saturday.
“People in Sungai Puar hamlet could not see Mount Marapi, even though the distance between the area and the volcano is only 5 kilometers,” Jimi said.
Apart from West Sumatra, Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan are among the provinces hardest hit by the air pollution originating from fires in peat land and plantations.
In Riau, the Pekanbaru Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) detected 127 hot spots across the province on Saturday morning, an alarming situation after the province had managed to reduce hot spots to almost zero over the past two weeks.
“Pelalawan [regency] had the highest number of hot spots, 53, followed by Indragiri Hulu with 49,” Pekanbaru BMKG head Sugarin said as quoted by Antara news agency.
Of the 127 hot spots, 90, according to Sugarin, were identified as fires with a level of certainty above 70 percent.
Meanwhile in Gorontalo, hundreds of local residents and forest rangers strived on Saturday to extinguish fires raging in more than 20 hectares of a conservation forest in North Dulamayo, Gorontalo regency.
“We have put out fires on the south side of the forest and are now working to handle those in the north,” Yosef Talawo, a forest ranger, told the Post.
Worsening forest fires have also threatened some of the most biodiverse and carbon-rich ecosystems in the country, its protected forests and peat lands.
According to NASA’s Active Fire Data on the Global Forest Watch Fires (GFW Fires) platform, half of the fire alerts in Riau are occurring in protected areas or those where new development is prohibited under Indonesia’s national forest conversion moratorium.
A large number of fire alerts, for example, are concentrated in Riau’s Tesso Nilo National Park, which has been significantly damaged by illegal encroachment in recent years.
The approximately 83,000-hectare park lost more than half of its tree cover from 2001-2013, according to Global Forest Watch data. The park is a habitat for critically endangered Sumatran elephants and tigers.
Meanwhile, the government has agreed to share with Singapore detailed information on companies responsible for land and forest fires in the country, a development that could enable Singapore to prosecute Singaporeans as well as foreign firms involved in illegal burning outside Singapore.
Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar said on Saturday that she had talked with her Singaporean counterpart, Vivian Balakrishnan, to discuss the issue.
“I told him that I would inform the public [about companies responsible for forest fires] anyway. I didn’t specifically say that [we] would give [the information] to Vivian. I will send [the information] through diplomatic channels, ie through the Indonesian Foreign Minister [Retno LP Marsudi],” she told the Post.
The news came after Singaporean Foreign Minister K Shanmugam called Retno to express his deep concern over the ongoing haze crisis. He said strong action was needed against guilty companies, and urged Indonesia to share their names with Singapore.
Hans Nicholas Jong contributes to this report from Jakarta
Police Ready to Send First Forest Fire Case to Court
Jakarta Globe 20 Sep 15;
Jakarta. Indonesian police are expediting a criminal investigation into one of 10 companies charged so far with starting forest fires that have generated choking haze across vast swaths of Sumatra and reached as far as Singapore.
A source at the police identified the company in question as Bumi Mekar Hijau, a South Sumatra-based supplier to Singapore-listed Asia Pulp and Paper (APP).
Under the charges being brought by investigators, company executives could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted of deliberately setting the fires to clear forested land for planting.
“Next week we’ll be ready to submit the case [to prosecutors],” the source told the Jakarta Globe on Sunday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“Hopefully the prosecutors can deem [all the evidence] sufficient so we can proceed to investigating other companies that have also burned forests.”
Bumi Mekar Hijau was earlier this year the subject of a civil suit filed by the government over fires inside its concession last year. A court in South Sumatra threw out the case in February.
In the current investigation, police have charged an unnamed executive from the company with violating a prohibition on slash-and-burn forest clearing.
An APP spokesman told Singapore’s Straits Times newspaper that it was “not aware of any new formal police charges against any of our suppliers at this time” and maintained that APP had operated a “zero burning” policy in its supply chain since 1996.
Police have charged 10 companies in Sumatra and Kalimantan along with 127 individuals for slash-and-burn practices, which are believed to be behind the thick haze that has blanketed parts of the country as well as Singapore and Malaysia, bringing air quality indexes in all three countries to unhealthy levels.
The companies face fines of up to Rp 10 billion ($694,000) each, while the suspects face jail time of up to 10 years under the environmental protection and forestry laws.
The companies also face having their permits revoked by the government.
The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) called on Sunday for the government to employ some of the nation’s best lawyers to prosecute these cases, saying they could serve as a precedent for future prosecutions and lawsuits against other companies.
Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar said on Sunday that the government was investigating nearly 300 companies for alleged slash-and-burn practices.
The ministry has deployed at least 200 officers to investigate firms with concessions on which fires had been detected, suspecting them of using the slash-and-burn method of clearing land. The minister promised to publish a list of violators before the end of the year.
Thick haze causes reduced visibility in Padang
thejakartapost.com 20 Sep 15;
The Ketaping, Padangpariaman office of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) in West Sumatra said thick smoke from several provinces across Sumatra had reduced visibility in Padang to around 1,000 meters on Sunday.
“After two days of rain, haze has blanketed Padang and West Sumatra again, resulting in limited visibility,” BMKG Ketaping weather analyst Yuni Fitria said as quoted by Antara in Padang on Sunday.
She said the smoke came from neighboring provinces, such as Riau and South Sumatra, while in West Sumatra, several hot spots were detected in the southern part of the province.
Yuni said haze was not only blanketing Padang but had been spreading evenly over West Sumatra.
“The smoke will only clear if rain falls on detected hot spots,” she said, adding that rain was not expected in the next two days.
The pollution has hampered resident’s activities. Padang Beach and Agus Salim Sports Stadium were not as crowded as usual on Sunday.
The head of disease control and disaster mitigation at the West Sumatra administration’s health agency, Irene, said the administration had instructed regencies and municipalities to instruct people to wear masks and reduce outdoor activities. “We are calling on all residents to reduce outdoor activities and increase their intake of vitamins to stay healthy,” she said.
Irene further explained that the number of people suffering from acute respiratory infections (ISPA) had reached 3,220, down from 6,009 in the previous week. (ebf)
Minister promises tough action on fire starters
Rizal Harahap, thejakartapost.com 20 Sep 15;
Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar has said the government will impose tougher sanctions against any company found guilty of practicing slash-and-burn forest clearing.
According to Siti, this year’s land and forest fires in Riau have been far fewer than in previous years, and the smoke currently blanketing Riau is largely from fires in Jambi and South Sumatra.
“It seems that Kalimantan and southern Sumatra are chasing each other on the emergence of hot spots. That’s why we are focusing our attention on those two areas,” said Siti, speaking on the sidelines of a two-day visit to Riau, which ended on Sunday.
Siti said the government would not let up on its efforts to investigate environmental damage caused by fires from land clearing, which allegedly implicates several plantation companies in Riau.
The Environment and Forestry Ministry, she added, had dispatched at least 70 environment surveillance officials (PPLH), 116 forest ecosystem controllers and 48 forest rangers (Polhut) to Riau to analyze the level of violations committed by companies.
“The results of the analysis will determine what kind of sanctions we will impose on the companies, whether we only need to impose administrative sanctions or if we have to freeze the permits of companies proven to have committed legal violations,” said Siti.
The minister said her visit to Riau was aimed at ensuring that companies proven guilty of legal violations would be sanctioned immediately.
“By the end of this year at the latest, all land problems in Riau must be completely resolved,” she said.
Citing official data, Siti said 276 companies had been involved in land-burning cases in several areas across Indonesia, 147 of which had obtained land-management permits from institutions other than the Environment and Forestry Ministry.
“Those who damage the environment will get similar sanctions. The public are fed up with seeing companies that violate the law given warnings only,” said Siti.
Slash-and-burn land clearing practices are widely seen as a major cause of land and forest fires in Riau.
Nonetheless, Siti said the government did not intend to change an existing regulation allowing people with 2 hectares of land to clear their land using slash-and-burn.
“This traditional method of land-clearing has been in practice across the globe since the era of the nomads. If we change the regulation without a proper study, we run the risk of affecting people’s livelihoods,” the minister said.
“One thing we need to do is ensure that the implementation of slash-and-burn clearing methods does not violate legal requirements,” she added.
The government might, Siti went on, seek to deter the use of fire to clear land by offering economic incentives. (ebf)
Govt acts on haze health issues
Rizal Harahap, thejakartapost.com 20 Sep 15;
Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar has urged the Riau administration to pay close attention to health problems caused by haze currently blanketing parts of the province.
Fire-extinguishing efforts in Riau this year, Siti said, had been much better than in previous years.
“It’s much more manageable. One thing that needs a special effort is the health impacts of the haze,” said the minister during a two-day visit to Riau, which ended on Sunday.
“I’ve received reports that local administrations have established health posts. Therefore, I’ve brought Health Ministry secretary-general [Untung Soeseno Sutarjo] on my visit to Riau, as it is his ministry that properly understands the technical procedures to tackle the crisis Riau residents are currently facing,” said Siti.
Speaking on the visit, Untung confirmed that the Health Ministry would establish two additional health posts to tackle the health impacts of haze in Pekanbaru. Untung said that 14 specialist doctors and paramedics specially deployed from Jakarta would provide healthcare services at the posts.
He added that the two health posts had been established near Arifin Achmad Regional General Hospital (RSUD) in Pekanbaru so that it would be easier for medical workers to refer patients with serious medical problems who needed further treatment. “We are ready to dispatch more health workers if needed,” said the official.
According to the Health Ministry, half a ton of medicines for illnesses caused by haze, such as acute respiratory infections, asthma and inflamed throats, has been sent to Riau and is scheduled to arrive in Pekanbaru on Sunday evening.
The additional medical supplies, Untung said, had been provided to ensure that no more expired medicine was distributed to patients.
“There was a case of expired medicine, which was reportedly caused by a shortage of medical supplies at health posts,” he said.
On Friday, an official at a health post near Sukaramai market in Pekanbaru gave Inflation, an anti-inflammation medicine, to a smoke-affected patient, who later revealed to the press that the medicine had expired in March 2015. (ebf)
Haze disaster is human rights abuse, says rights commission
thejakartapost.com 19 Sep 15;
The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has said that the uncontrollable spread of air pollution from forest fires in Sumatra could be categorized as a human rights violation by the state because the government allows it to happen every year.
"The government has committed fundamental human rights abuse because it does not stop [the forest fires] happening," Komnas HAM commissioner Roichatul said as quoted by kompas.com on Saturday. She said that preventing such annual disasters occurring was the responsiblity of the central government, provincial governments and regency and city governments.
Siti Nurlaila, another commissioner, said the spread of the choking haze had curtailed the fundamental rights of the people to live a healthy life. The people are forced to inhale polluted air in their own homes and workplaces. Therefore, she demanded the government temporarily relocate all people, particularly children, affected by the haze to more healthy areas.
Relocating the people to safe areas is no less important than the efforts to extinguish the fires, according to Siti. "The government has also to provide indoor education and indoor playgrounds for the children affected by the haze," Siti added.
On Friday, a group of people, who described themselves as Riau’s Anti-Haze Movement visited the Komnas HAM office in Jakarta to complain about the worsening impact of the haze on people’s health in the province over the past month.
Siti said that her institution would carry out an investigation. "We have to work immediately because the air pollution in the area has become intolerable," she said, adding that the investigation was important for her institution before submitting a recommendation to the government.
Meanwhile, Riau Provincial Health Agency recorded that the number of people suffering from upper respiratory tract infections (ISPA) as a result of this year's haze had reached 43,386 or about double the 27,200 recorded last year. (bbn)(++++)
Govt investigates hundreds of businesses over haze
Andi Abdussalam Antara 20 Sep 15;
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian government is now investigating a total of 276 business entities suspected to have caused forest fires which create haze that shrouds Sumatra, Kalimantan, Singapore and Malaysia over the past few days.
The investigation of the 276 business entities, including private companies, cooperatives and other land business title holders, is carried out by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (LHK).
"In total, there are 276 suspected business entities. Some are not yet identified as they turned out to be cooperatives and HGU (land title for industrial purposes) business holders," Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar said in Pekanbaru, Riau provincial capital, on Saturday night.
She said some 147 of them were now under examinations process by the National Land Agency (BPN) because they were outside the forest areas.
"But in terms of environment, the likelihood of their violation is strong. I think they have caused damage to the environment because they burnt land," Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar said.
She said that after the identification process and found the companies profiles, her ministry would field 70 environment officials, 116 forestry ecosystem supervisors and 40 forest police personnel.
"They will be trained and be deployed simultaneously to the field to check and assess the companies to decide the level of their violation. The companies will then receive light or heavy punishment. Surely, there is the possibility for the companies to have their business frozen," Siti Nurbaya said.
She said most of the entities were palm oil companies whose permits were issued by district heads. The minister said in revealing the fact, she had no intention to pinpoint who was wrong but to emphasize that companies receiving licenses should continue to be monitored.
Therefore, the minister hoped the forest fire cases would soon be settled, even before the end of the year. She is prepared to be pressured if the case remains unresolved at the end of 2015.
"I want this problem to be settled before the yearend. If not resolved, you may yell at me," Minister Nurbaya said.
She said besides Riau, forest fires were found mostly in South Sumatra, Central Kalimantan and West Kalimantan. "South Sumatra, Central and West Kalimantan are as if competing each other in creating haze. Haze in Riau Province has started since November but it is manageable. Therefore, I decided to handle Riau haze mostly through a phone call with the governor and officials of the Technical Units," she said.
Up to Friday, September 18, due to haze, three provinces have been declared to be in the emergency response status by the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), namely the provinces of Riau, Jambi and Central Kalimantan.
South Sumatra, West Kalimantan and South Kalimantan provinces were still in the emergency alert status.
Chief of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Willem Rampangilei has set a target of one month to extinguish forest fires that have blanketed South Sumatra Province in haze.
The deadline is in accordance with instructions from President Joko Widodo (Jokowi), Rampangilei said on Friday.
Starting Sept 11, the agency has intensified efforts to put out forest and plantation fires in South Sumatra.
According to Vice President Jusuf Kalla, the government is all out in putting out forest fires and overcoming the haze problem.
"The government is making all efforts to overcome haze. The Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) is also involved in providing assistance on humanitarian and health aspects. It distributes face masks and other assistance," Kalla said after attending a fun walk held at the Hotel Indonesia Traffic Circle to observe the 70th anniversary of PMI on Sunday.
The Vice President said that the government had made attempts to put out forest fires in Kalimantan and Sumatra through technical efforts in the field. Thousands of military personnel are also mobilized to put out the fires.
Some 2,909 military and police personnel have been deployed in stages to help put out the fires on Kalimantan and Sumatra islands. In Sumatras Riau Province, the worst hit by haze, the Indonesian Military (TNI) deployed 1,250 soldiers after President Joko Widodo declared a state of emergency.
Earlier, on Sept. 11, some 1,059 military personnel were sent to South Sumatra, which had also been hit by wildfires.
According to Kalla, who is also the general chairman of PMI, the Red Cross provided assistant from the humanitarian aspect.
"Humanitarian problems are increasingly bigger in line with the dynamism of us all. There are people who become toll of natural disasters, humanitarian victims and other problems. All become parts of our tasks, such as haze, to overcome it," he said.
Kalla said the PMI is providing assistance for haze victims by, among others, distributing face masks to residents.
The executive chairman of PMI, Ginandjar Kartasasmita, said PMI had distributed thousands of face masks to residents affected by the haze in Sumatra and Kalimantan.
He pointed out that PMI planned to coordinate with the BNPB to take more active part in assisting the people who are affected by haze.
The haze that affected several parts of Indonesia in recent weeks has caused 22,535 people to develop upper tract respiratory infection.
"The number of people suffering from upper tract respiratory infection reached 22,535 as of September 11, 2015.
The figure is likely to increase as haze caused by forest fires still continues," Health Minister Nila F Moeloek said meanwhile.(*)
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