Indonesia: $47b? Indonesia counts costs of haze

Francis ChanTHE STRAITS TIMES AsiaOne 12 Oct 15;

Early estimates by the Joko Widodo administration indicate that the haze crisis could set Indonesia back by up to 475 trillion rupiah (S$47 billion) - no chump change to a government already grappling with a sliding rupiah and sluggish growth.

However, observers warned that economic pains aside, the country's global standing will also take a hit if it does not resolve the decades-old issue, caused by illegal forest fires in Kalimantan and Sumatra.

The blanketing haze from the fires, often burning over dry peatland, has affected millions across Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia, as well as parts of the Philippines and Thailand more recently.

It has forced schools to close, flights to be delayed and major sporting events in both Singapore and Malaysia to be cancelled.

For Indonesia, more than 136,000 of its people have suffered from respiratory infections. There were also unverified reports of a few haze-related deaths, including that of a 15-year-old schoolgirl.

Researchers Tiola Javadi and David Han from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) said in a report last week that the crisis, if prolonged, could strain relations, particularly between Indonesia and its closest ASEAN neighbours, Singapore and Malaysia.

Professor Euston Quah, who has spent years researching the economic impact of the transboundary haze, agrees.

"It is too early to tell what the economic costs of this year's haze episode will be because it will probably go on until early November due to El Nino," said Prof Quah, who heads the economics division at Nanyang Technological University.

"But the cost of this crisis, whether for Indonesia, Singapore or Malaysia, will likely be the same... the only difference is that Indonesia will probably lose much of the goodwill it has with its neighbours. That has not been estimated and will emerge as a massive intangible cost to the Indonesians," he added.

The "confusing verbal exchanges between Indonesia and Singapore on the haze issue" do not help Indonesia's cause, said Mr Javadi and Mr Han.

They were referring to Vice-President Jusuf Kalla, who rapped his country's neighbours for grumbling about the haze but never thanking Indonesia for the clean air they enjoy for the rest of the year.

Another episode that had threatened to sour ties was Indonesia's repeated rejections of Singapore's offer of assistance. But the matter appears to have been put to bed after Jakarta last week formally accepted offers of help from several countries, including Singapore.

The transboundary haze, which first grabbed headlines in a big way in 1997, cost the region an estimated US$9 billion then.

This year's haze, which has already affected more than 28 million people living in Indonesia, is likely be worse than that in 1997.

While the economic impact of the haze in 2013 - when air pollution hit record levels in Singapore - and this year has yet to be quantified, it is likely to be more significant, said Associate Professor Mely Caballero-Anthony, who heads the RSIS Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, and Associate Research Fellow Goh Tian, also from RSIS.

Prof Quah, who is also president of the Economic Society of Singapore, noted while the current haze period is "quite similar to 1997", the economic costs then were compounded by the Asian financial crisis, which inflated the costs.

"This year, we don't have a financial crisis but El Nino is the strongest in 50 years... so this year when they tabulate the final (costs of the fires and

haze), I am sure the costs will be higher than in 1997," he said.

Based on its own calculations, the Indonesian government reckoned that the cost of mitigating the crisis this year would range from 300 trillion to 475 trillion rupiah.

It is not clear how the figure was derived, but the country's National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) had already said last month it may have to use up all 385 billion rupiah in government funding earmarked for tackling the fires and also turn to a 2.5 trillion rupiah "on-call fund" set aside for other types of disasters.

The Joko government has also allocated US$1 million (S$1.4 million) to provinces in Sumatra and Kalimantan that are bearing the brunt of the fires.

To date, tens of thousands of soldiers, policemen, BNPB personnel and Environment and Forestry Ministry officials have been deployed to tackle the fires and build canals to make it easier to "re-wet" peatland, which burns easily during the dry season. The construction of the canals over sprawling plantation land will be funded by Jakarta, Mr Joko had said previously.

His government has also taken the unprecedented step of openly going after those who use the outlawed slash-and-burn method of clearing land to cultivate crops like oil palm. The authorities have since arrested hundreds of suspects and begun investigations into several plantation firms suspected of starting illegal forest fires.

Last Friday, Mr Joko said his government intends to procure at least three aircraft large enough to deal with forest fires.

It is not known if the Ministry of Environment and Forestry has already included these new purchases in its calculations, but observers believe that the costs will inevitably mount for Jakarta as the current crisis continues.

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So Far, Haze has Killed 9 People: BNPB
Tempo 11 Oct 15;

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) reported that the haze crisis in Sumatra and Kalimantan had left at least 9 people died, either directly or indirectly because of the haze, and affected 40 million people.

BNPB also reported that South Sumatra had the most hot spots in Indonesia amounting to 7,982 hot spots, followed by Central Kalimantan (5,844 hot spots) and Jambi (1,169 hot spots).

In the meantime, BNPB Chief Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said that the agency had spent Rp 385 billion until September 2015.

He also said that the BNPB had requested for an additional Rp700 billion from the Finance Ministry to contain the fires.

ARIEF HIDAYAT


Netizens Raise Rp100 Million for Haze Victims
Tempo 11 Oct 15;

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Netizens show their support for haze victims in Sumatra and Kalimantan by raising money through crowd sourcing at Kitabisa.com/melawanasap. Fuadiyah Kamil, the PR & Communication Officer of Kitabisa.com says the website had raised Rp101,823,987.- million in total from 15 fund-raising events.

“The concern over the harmful effects of the smog is what drives netizens to help out,” said Diyah in its press release on Friday, October 2015.

The money, said Diyah, is used to buy N95 masks and oxygen tubes. Some of the netizens contributed by giving out medicines or Sanseviera plant that is known for its capability of absorbing pollutant. An effort to build a Smog Free Tower is also being sought.

Diyah believes that the haze disaster in Sumatra and Kalimantan should not be taken lightly since it has taken death tolls. She also believes that government’s support has been insufficient.

“When the haze disaster gets worse, what can we do? Public can surely help. For example by donating through Kitabisa.com/melawanasap,” Diyah said.

NIEKE INDRIETTA

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Indonesia: Water bombing operations to put out forest fires start in south Sumatra

A total of seven helicopters and four fixed-wing aircraft are involved in the mission to put out forest fires in the Ogan Komering Ilir and Musi Banyuasin areas, says Indonesia's BNPB.
Saifulbahri Ismail Channel NewsAsia 11 Oct 15;

JAKARTA: The combined team from Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia has begun water bombing operations to put out the forest fires in south Sumatra.

In a statement issued by Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) on Sunday (Oct 11), a total of seven helicopters and four fixed-wing aircraft are involved in the mission.

The operation will be concentrated in the Ogan Komering Ilir and Musi Banyuasin areas.

Singapore has sent a Republic of Singapore Air Force Chinook helicopter and 34 SAF personnel to help fight the ongoing forest fires, together with a six-man Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team from the Singapore Civil Defence Force, and a 5,000-litre heli-bucket. Two RSAF C-130 aircraft were also deployed to transport SAF and SCDF personnel, as well as their equipment, said Singapore's Ministry of Defence.

Meanwhile, Malaysia has deployed a 25-member team along with three assets, including a Bombardier aircraft that is capable of sucking up over 6,000 litres of water in 12 seconds, enough to put out fires the size of football field each round.

AUSTRALIA TEAM TO JOIN EFFORTS

BNPB added that a team from Australia is expected to arrive in Palembang on Sunday, while Canberra is also expected to send its Thor type Hercules L 100 aircraft with the capacity to carry 15 tons of water early next week.

The Australian aircraft will only be used for five days as it is still needed to put out the forest fires in New South Wales, Australia, said BNPB.

Indonesia is still waiting on confirmation of help from other countries.

- CNA/av


Singapore starts water bombing in Sumatra
MY PAPER AsiaOne 12 Oct 15;

JAKARTA - A CHINOOK helicopter from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) has arrived in South Sumatra province to help Indonesia douse forest and peatland fires that have been sending choking haze across the region, according to Indonesia's top agency battling the disaster.

The Chinook, which is equipped with a 5,000-litre heli-bucket, would operate with six helicopters and two aircraft from Indonesia as well as a Bombardier aircraft from Malaysia, said the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) in a statement.

They would concentrate on water bombing fires in the regencies of Ogan Ogan Ilir and Banyuasin, said the statement, while a local Casa aircraft would focus on rain making.

The pilots and crew were briefed on where and how they would be deployed as well as the safety measures, it added. Singapore's Chinook would be engaged in the operation until Oct 23.

In a Facebook post last night, Singapore's Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said water-bombing operations involving the country began in Palembang yesterday. He added that conditions were difficult "because of the thick smoke that affects visibility".

The Straits Times reported yesterday that the SAF sent a Chinook, two C-130 transport planes and a 34-strong team to Indonesia on Saturday. Together with the group is a six-man Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (Dart) from the Singapore Civil Defence Force, said the Ministry of Defence.

The Dart officers would execute the dropping of water from the heli-bucket to extinguish the fires.

There were 726 hot spots in Sumatra and 182 in Kalimantan yesterday, according to a Twitter post by Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, the spokesman for BNPB.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo last week requested help from its neighbours, including Australia, as well as China, Japan and Russia, to help put out the fires, which have driven air quality in Singapore and Malaysia to hazardous levels at some point.

Indonesia plans to extinguish all the hot spots across the country within two weeks, reported Bloomberg.


Singapore joins multinational effort to douse Sumatra fires
Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja, Straits Times AsiaOne 12 Oct 15;

A multinational effort to fight forest fires in Indonesia began on Sunday (Oct 11) as Singapore joined forces with other countries to help douse fires in South Sumatra.

A Chinook helicopter from Singapore was sent to Indonesia at the weekend to help in firefighting operations there, one of Indonesia's worst-hit areas.

The Chinook, which had a 5,000-litre water bucket, worked with a Bombardier water bomber from Malaysia, which can scoop 6,000 litres of seawater.

They joined two air-tractor water bombers from Indonesia's Environment and Forestry Ministry and six choppers from its Disaster Management Agency (BNPB).

Indonesia accepted Singapore's help last week after turning down its earlier offers.

In a statement to the media on Sunday, BNPB spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said Australia's L-100 Hercules aircraft will arrive by Wednesday. "This aircraft will operate for five days in South Sumatra as it will be needed to fight fires in New South Wales," he said.

Indonesia is waiting for more aircraft from other countries to help douse the fires, Dr Sutopo said.

Russia is expected to send a Beriev Be-200 aircraft, which can scoop 12,000 litres of water from a lake or the sea; China is also expected to send a few aircraft.

On Facebook on Sunday, Singapore's Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said conditions for the water-bombing operations in Palembang, South Sumatra, were difficult as thick smoke affected visibility.

Meanwhile, visibility across Singapore was generally good yesterday, with the 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) in the range of 84 to 93 at 10pm. At 10pm, the three-hour PSI was 111.

In its advisory on Sunday, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said the 24-hour PSI for the next 24 hours is expected to be in the moderate range, and may enter the low end of the unhealthy range if denser haze is blown in from the surrounding region.

The NEA said 129 hot spots were detected in Sumatra on Sunday. Prevailing winds are forecast to be weak on Monday, and occasional slight haze can be expected, with visibility likely to be in the normal range.


Malaysia begins firefighting operation in South Sumatera
FAIRUZ MOHD SHAHAR New Straits Times 11 Oct 15;

PUTRAJAYA: The Bombardier CL 415 MP aircraft owned by Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) had started its firefighting operation in the South Sumatera region, today.

MMEA Deputy Director-General (Operations) Maritime First Admiral Datuk Che Hassan Jusoh said the aircraft had carried out water scooping and water bombing, each 10 times, within four hours.

"The scooping of water was carried out in Sungai Lumpur located in the southeast region, 70 miles from Palembang.

"The water scooping session to put out the fire took about seven minutes," he said in a statement, today.

A pilot, a co-pilot and a cabin crew were involved in the operation.

The operation will resume tomorrow and is expected to take five days.

Besides Bombardier, MMEA also sent an AS 365 N3 Dauphin helicopter to Sumatra on Friday to assist the Indonesian government in putting out the fires that have caused the haze around the region.

The Royal Malaysian Air Force has also deployed a Hercules C130 to assist in logistics.

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Malaysia: Special unit to protect tracts along Lower Kinabatangan area

RUBEN SARIO The Star 12 Oct 15;

KOTA KINABALU: A special patrol unit will be protecting tracts of riverbank forests along the wildlife-rich Lower Kinabatangan region which are in danger.

The Kinabatangan Corridor of the Life Riparian Patrol Unit will focus on ensuring the strips of forests along the river remain intact so wildlife such as elephants and orang utan are able to move about.

The patrol unit, to be launched today, is a collaboration between the Sabah Forestry Department and the Kinabatangan-Corridor of Life Tourism Association (KiTA).

Department director Datuk Sam Mannan said the unit was necessary to ensure that plantations did not encroach into the strips of riverine forests.

“We don’t want a repeat of encroachments into these riparian reserves that are crucial for the survival of wildlife,” said Mannan, who is scheduled to launch the patrol unit.

He said the unit would start with two personnel and a boat provided by the department, adding that operational costs would be shared with KiTA.

For a start, Mannan said the patrol would focus on the forested riverbanks between Kampung Batu Putih and Kampung Abai.

Should the patrol spot any encroachment, he said, they would then alert the Kinabatangan District Forest Office that would in turn contact other relevant authorities, which include the Land and Survey, Wildlife, Environment Protection, Drainage and Irrigation and the federal Environment departments.

The 560km-long Kinabatangan River is home to endangered species such as the Borneo pygmy elephants, proboscis monkeys, orang utan, hornbills, clouded leopards, sun bears and Sumatran rhinoceros.

The 26,103ha Lower Kinabatan­gan Wildlife Sanctuary in the east is said to be home to an estimated 13,000 orang utan and 1,100 Borneo pygmy elephants.

In July, authorities were alerted to an encroachment at the protected riverine forests in Kinabatangan covering an area of some 3.24ha.

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Early sign of algae bloom detected in Florida Bay

In late September, state biologists navigated through mats of dead seagrass in Florida Bay. About 13 square miles of seagrass meadows died over the summer with early signs of an algae bloom now appearing near Rankin Lake and Garfield Bight.
BY JENNY STALETOVICH Miami Herald 11 Oct 15;

* Severe drought kills miles of seagrass meadows
* The die-off coincided with a massive yellow fog of toxic sulfide
* Scientists meet to look for ways to stop the spread

A slimy toxic algae bloom in Florida Bay that researchers thought was years in the future might be just around the corner.

South Florida Water Management District scientist Fred Sklar told district board members last week that levels of chlorophyll are starting to rise in shallow water where miles of seagrass meadows died over the summer. The last time so much grass died in 1987, it took five years for algae blooms to erupt that would devastate the bay for two decades.

If this bloom worsens, it will have taken just months to appear.

“We’re not sure there is a cure,” Sklar told the board. “Once something like this starts, we don’t know what makes it stop.”

The crisis in Florida Bay also has escalated a prolonged fight over water in South Miami-Dade. Farmers have long complained that groundwater is being kept too high, drowning crops. Scientists and environmentalists argue that the bay, which desperately needs more water to flow in from the Everglades, is being sacrificed to save farms.

“You just can’t let … Florida Bay die,” said Jerry Lorenz, Audubon Florida's state director of research. “It’s far more important to get water into Florida Bay and try to mitigate to farms than the other way around.”

At nearly 1,000 square miles, Florida Bay is one of the planet’s most complicated ecosystems with a patchwork of about 24 different basins separated by mud banks. It is also a vital part of the region’s economy and a $723 million a year fishing industry.

The 1990s algae bloom started with the death of more than 15.5 square miles of seagrass after a prolonged drought. So far, scientists have recorded about 13 square miles of dead seagrass around Johnson Key and in Rankin Lake, a shallow bight tucked into a horseshoe-shaped mud bank now beginning to show signs of an algae bloom.

The die-off also coincided with a cloud of yellow sulfide — something Sklar said scientists have never before documented in the bay — that spread across 25 square miles.

“We’re talking between 50 and 75 square miles of seagrass beds that could potentially die,” he said.

A team of researchers who have been monitoring the bay and are now trying to find a solution say that the brewing crisis is no surprise. Years of flood control have robbed the bay of historic sheet flow that fanned across rocky glades from two sloughs in Everglades National Park. What little trickled out of five creeks into the bay in August dropped to the lowest level recorded since gauges were installed in 1996. Worse, a second year of dry weather spiraled into a severe drought. Salinity in some areas reached more than double the concentration of sea water.

The district tried to manage the situation by moving more water south “making it less likely to go into a cascade,” Sklar said. And recent rain — more than 10 inches fell in September — helped flush salt. But it was too late.

“Once the train leaves the station, we don’t know when it stops,” he said.

Another complication: Pollution from vast sugar fields south of Lake Okeechobee must be cleaned. Billions of dollars in efforts have made the water cleaner — but not enough for the sensitive Everglades. Farmers and state officials increasingly hostile to environmentalists have for years blamed the mandate, part of a federal court ruling, for holding up restoration. District board member Jim Moran called it “the gorilla in the room,” that should be relaxed.

“Too much deference is being given to park staff and the NGOs,” Mike Collins, a fishing guide and former board member, complained during the meeting. “If you don’t have science and you don’t have engineering, go sit in the corner and shut up. We don’t have the ability to allow political science to drive this issue any more.”

Environmentalists shot back that Everglades restoration was largely due to their efforts.

“I didn’t realize we built the Tamiami Trial,” which blocked water, said Drew Martin, a conservation chair for the Sierra Club. “We didn’t blow up the Miami falls. We didn’t drain the [Everglades Agriculture Area]. All these things were changes done not by the NGOs but by the development of Florida.”

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Low-carbon future is within reach

JEFFREY SACHS Today Online 12 Oct 15;

In May 1961, President John F Kennedy stirred America and the world with these words: “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth.”

Just eight years later, NASA did just that — with astounding benefits for science, technology and the world economy. Now, a group of leading scientists, innovators and economists has identified our era’s moonshot: To replace fossil fuels with clean-energy technologies within this generation.

Since a group of policy leaders from the United Kingdom initiated the Global Apollo Programme to Combat Climate Change earlier this year, I and many others have enthusiastically signed on. The programme, named after the NASA moon mission, is built on the idea of “directed technological change”. In other words, through a conscious effort, backed by public funds, we can steer the development of the advanced technologies needed to ensure humanity’s safety and wellbeing. At the top of the list is clean energy, which will enable us to head off the global warming caused by the combustion of massive amounts of coal, oil, and gas worldwide.

The Deep Decarbonization Pathways Project (DDPP) has demonstrated that a low-carbon future is within reach, with huge benefits at a very modest cost. (DDPP is an initiative by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Solutions Network and the Paris-based Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations to understand and show how individual countries can transition to a low-carbon economy)

In the United States, for example, cutting emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 is not only feasible; it would require added outlays of only around 1 per cent of GDP per year. And the benefits — including a safer climate, smarter infrastructure, better vehicles and cleaner air — would be massive.

Pathways to a low-carbon future focus on three main actions: Improving energy efficiency, producing electricity from low-carbon energy sources (such as solar and wind energy), and switching from petroleum to low-carbon energy for powering vehicles (such as electric or fuel-cell vehicles) and heating buildings. These are clear and achievable goals, and the public sector should play a major role in advancing them.

Politicians need to end subsidies for coal, oil and gas, and start taxing emissions from their use. Moreover, they must meet the need for new power lines to carry low-carbon solar, wind, geothermal and hydroelectric power from remote areas (and offshore platforms) to population centres.

But, meeting these requirements presupposes advances in technologies that will enable low-carbon energy systems to compete with the alternatives. That is where the Apollo Programme comes in, with its bold goal of reducing the cost of renewable energy to below that of coal, oil and gas.

Of course, renewable energy is sometimes already cheaper than fossil fuels — when the sun is shining bright or the wind is blowing strong and consistently. The main challenge with renewables is energy storage, in two senses. First, we need to store renewable energy for use in vehicles in a low-cost and efficient way. While we already have high-quality electric vehicles, they require improvements in range and cost to be able to outcompete conventional vehicles.

The highest technological priority is to develop batteries for transport that are cheaper, longer-lasting, faster-charging and lighter.

Second, we need to store intermittent energy for times when the wind is not blowing, the sun is not shining and rivers are not flowing strongly enough to turn hydroelectric turbines.

Many energy-storage technologies are already in use or in development. One example is pumped hydropower, in which excess wind and solar energy is used to pump water uphill into reservoirs that can later produce hydroelectric power. Another is the conversion of renewable energy into hydrogen (by splitting water molecules) or a synthetic liquid fuel made with carbon dioxide from the air. Others include compressed air and large-scale battery storage.

Low-carbon technologies can be improved markedly in many other areas, too. Power grids running on renewables need more sophisticated systems for balancing energy supply and demand. Improvements in carbon capture and storage technologies would enable some fossil fuels to be used safely. And nuclear power plant designs can be made safer with passive (automatic) safety systems and fuel cycles that leave behind less radioactive waste and fissile material that could be turned into weapons.

Given the trillions of dollars of potential losses from human-induced climate change, and the trillions of dollars invested annually in global energy systems, the world’s governments would be wise to invest tens of billions of dollars each year in the research and development needed to achieve a low-carbon energy future.

With this in mind, more than one politician should have already followed in JFK’s footsteps, stepping forward to announce this generation’s critical moonshot, and to offer the public finances needed to make it happen.

So far, none has. In the US, for example, the government allocates around US$31 billion (S$43 billion) per year to biomedical research (with great returns to health), and roughly US$65 billion per year for military R&D, but only about US$7 billion per year for non-defence energy, and, of that, less than US$2 billion per year for renewable-energy R&D. This is a shocking lapse on two counts: First, the US and the world are losing time on decarbonisation; second, the US is squandering the chance to develop its own future high-tech industries.

Engaging world governments

Together, the Apollo Programme and the DDPP point the world’s governments towards the agreement they should reach at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris this December.

First, governments should pledge to decarbonise their economies in order to keep global warming below the extreme danger zone of 2°C. Second, they should promise to unveil, in the next couple of years, national “pathways” to deep decarbonisation by 2050. And third, they should join together to fund the new global moonshot for clean energy. The pooled financing should start with a minimum of US$15 billion per year, and rise sharply thereafter, as key, high-return technology breakthroughs come into view.

As JFK showed, great progress begins with a great goal, one that is bold yet feasible. The goal today, backed by the Apollo Programme, is deep decarbonisation. It is time for world leaders to commit to the planet-saving clean-energy moonshot. PROJECT SYNDICATE

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Jeffrey Sachs, Professor of Sustainable Development, Professor of Health Policy and Management, and Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, is also Special Adviser to the United Nations Secretary-General on the Millennium Development Goals.

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Paris climate summit: UN negotiations 'need redesign'

Rebecca Morelle BBC News 12 Oct 15;

Scientists say the climate summit in Paris is too focussed on self interest

The UN climate negotiations are heading for failure and need a major redesign if they are to succeed, scientists say.

The pledges that individual countries are offering ahead of the Paris climate summit in December are too entrenched in self interest instead of being focussed on a common goal.

The researchers say the science of cooperation is being ignored.

Instead, they say the negotiations should focus on a common commitment on the global price of carbon.

This means countries would agree on a uniform charge for carbon pollution, a scheme that would encourage polluters to reduce their emissions.

The comments from researchers at the University of Cambridge, UK, University of Maryland, US, and University of Cologne, in Germany, are published in the journal Nature.
'I will, if you will'

Ahead of December's United Nations climate meeting, individual countries have submitted their plans for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. These are called Intended Nationally Determined Contributions - or INDCs.

However, the researchers say that this approach will not work.

Prof David MacKay, from the University of Cambridge, who was former chief scientific advisor to Britain's Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), said: "The science of cooperation predicts that if all you are doing is naming individual contributions - offers that aren't coupled to each other - then you'll end up with a relatively poor outcome.

"We have the history of the Kyoto agreement as an example of this. Initially, the approach was to find a common commitment, but eventually it descended into a patchwork of individual commitments... and that led to very weak commitments and several countries leaving the process."

The Paris negotiations, he warned, were heading in the same direction.

Instead, the researchers say, a reciprocal approach could transform the meeting.

"If you make a treaty that is based on reciprocity, so 'I will, if you will' and 'I won't, if you won't', then you can end up in a very different position," explained Prof MacKay.

"If people make a common commitment that they will match what others do, then it becomes in your self interest to advocate a high level of action because it will apply not only to you but also to others."

The scientists believe that setting a common price for carbon, which could be implemented through carbon tax or emissions trading schemes, could work.

Prof MacKay said: "This is a price that could be negotiated and agreed, and would apply to all countries."

The researchers admit that with the Paris climate conference just weeks away and the fact that global carbon pricing is not already on the table, their idea is unlikely to have much influence.

However, they say the science of cooperation should be taken into account for future negotiations.

Commenting on the paper, Bob Ward from the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, said: "This is a thoughtful contribution but rather too pessimistic about the United Nations climate change negotiations.

"The authors are right that a global price on carbon is necessary, although it would be, on its own, insufficient to generate the pace and scale of action required."

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Best of our wild blogs: 11 Oct 15

8 Activities for Families to Enjoy on Coney Island (& Important Things to Take Note!)
Cheekiemonkies

Two Lycaenidae to Make it 322!
Butterflies of Singapore

Kids day out at Chek Jawa
wild shores of singapore

Gentle wild boar family endangered by irresponsible trash disposal
wild shores of singapore

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Why Joko Widodo can't stop Southeast Asia choking on his country's smoke by simply putting out fires

Joko Widodo's failure to put out the forest fires choking Southeast Asia illustrates the problems of land use and decentralisation in Indonesia
Bloomberg in Jakarta, South China Morning Post 11 Oct 15;

Having promised to extinguish forest fires in Riau in western Indonesia by early October, President Joko Widodo jetted into Sumatra Island for a progress check. The smoke was so thick his plane couldn't land, forcing him back to the capital.

Exacerbated by dry conditions from El Nino, the haze has blown across Southeast Asia, blanketing Singapore, parts of Indonesia, Malaysia and even areas of southern Thailand in a smog that has closed schools and forced some people to flee their homes. In what has become an annual "haze season" ritual, governments are bickering about who is to blame and how to fix things, fearing a hit to tourism and economic activity.

So far, Widodo is following a similar track to his predecessors: Threaten to punish the palm-oil and other plantation companies whose land is ablaze and send soldiers in to help fight the fires.

Last Thursday though, after repeatedly declining offers of help from overseas, he asked Singapore, Russia, Malaysia and Japan for help to put the fires out.

"We have asked for help yesterday and have been assisted by Singapore," Widodo said. "We hope the assistance will accelerate the efforts to put out the forest fires on the peat land, which need very different treatment than regular forest fires," he said.

"We need aircraft that are able to carry 12 to 15 tonnes of waters, not only up to three tonnes."

Indonesia has already deployed 25,840 soldiers, police and fire personnel in six provinces to fight the fires, with 25 aircraft conducting water-bombing and cloud-seeding operations.

But unless he addresses the broader factors behind the burning off, the chances are the haze will keep coming back.

Widodo's manoeuvrability is limited by a decentralised system of government put in place in 2001 in the world's largest archipelago, which has coalesced power around local officials and potentially made it harder to tackle corruption on the ground.

There has also been little effort over the years to address a complex system of overlapping land permits, where forest is illegally burned to claim ownership and increase the value to sell for plantations.

"There is no strong control, no strong standards on making decisions at the local level," said Bustar Maitar, head of Indonesian forests for campaign group Greenpeace. "[Widodo] should create strong standards to follow."

Fire hotspots have been burning all year in the tropical forests of Sumatra and Borneo, but the government only acted after complaints by neighbour Singapore and as haze in the area surged. The worst of it has been in Indonesia itself: A pollution index at Palangkaraya in central Kalimantan province reached 1,990 late last month, more than five times the level considered "hazardous", and about 125,000 people in the country are suffering haze-linked health issues.

"The government seems to be working slowly in handling this, we have lived three years like this with smoke," said Helda Satriani, a resident of Rumbai in Riau who is nine months pregnant with her first child. "Government, please, take immediate action."

Widodo took office a year ago promising to address bottlenecks in the economy, from building infrastructure to making bureaucracy more efficient.

He came to power with high expectations, given his success in tackling red tape as Jakarta governor. Since then, he has run into roadblocks from vested interests and even his own party, causing unease among investors and helping make the rupiah Asia's second-worst-performing currency this year.

Since his September pledge, Widodo has scaled back expectations, saying in a BBC interview last week it could take three years to see results.

Southeast Asia has some of the oldest continuous rainforest in the world, part of a swathe that once ran from Malaysia to northern Australia.

Much of Sumatra has a thick canopy of trees covering waterlogged peat soil, an early form of coal, which is drained when logged, leaving a vast area of tinder that can explode and smoulder for extended periods.

The fires might be extinguished by next month, the country's disaster agency has said. The blazes are on track to become the worst on record, according to Robert Field, a Columbia University scientist based at the Nasa Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

Still, "it's ridiculous for Widodo to say this will take three years", said Keith Loveard, head of political risk at Jakarta-based Concord Consulting.

"What is required is the application of the law in a manner that discourages landowners, small and large, from continuing this practice, in other words tough penalties handed down without exception."

The government devolved power to the regions to prevent the archipelago from breaking apart after the end of dictator Suharto's three-decade rule and the Asian financial crisis in 1998.

Dubbed the Big Bang decentralisation, Indonesia almost doubled the share of government spending to regions and transferred almost two thirds of the central government workforce, according to a 2003 World Bank report.

Recentralising land permits might not be possible, as the country is too big, but establishing a master map with clearer ownership would be a step forward, said Kevin O'Rourke, who wrote Reformasi: The Struggle for Power in Post-Suharto Indonesia.

Widodo said in February he wanted to create a single map for all provinces to prevent overlapping concessions, though there has been no detail since.

"If we can have one map by 2020, that will be very helpful," said Aida Greenbury, the manager for sustainability at Singapore-based Asia Pulp & Paper. One of its suppliers, Bumi Mekar Hijau, has been named a suspect in causing fires. There were 500 licences held by other companies across the land in its supply chain, and burning could triple the amount that land was worth, she said.

In a country with traditional slash-and-burn agricultural practices, local communities are allowed to burn up to 2 hectares of land per family. Prevention of illegal larger scale burning has been limited, with the government freezing permits for four companies so far.

"Mid-level companies are using a lot of families to burn," said Arief Perkasa, a Jakarta-based manager at TFT, an environmental supply-chain organisation. Cutting forest was 20 times more expensive than burning it, he said.

The financial benefit from the fires could be as much as US$856 a hectare for farming leaders, village heads and land claimants, Herry Purnomo, a forestry scientist for Indonesia's Centre for International Forestry Research, said in a report last month. They get thousands of dollars more from planting palm over the years.

"Many players benefit enormously from fire," Purnomo said. "These players wear multiple hats, [and include] farmers, politicians, businessmen and government officers."

Additional reporting by Associated Press

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Green panel to tighten rules on paper products

The Singapore Environment Council (SEC), which awards the Singapore Green Label to companies, is tightening its criteria for paper products here.
Jessica Lim, Straits Times AsiaOne 10 Oct 15;

By early next year, the 17 paper product makers and distributors here with the right to use the mark on their goods must all have certification from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) - the most credible forest certification scheme now, going by a recent assessment by the World Wide Fund for Nature.

Currently, only two green-label holders for paper goods - Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) exclusive distributor Universal Sovereign Trading and PT Indah Kiat Pulp & Paper Tbk Perawang Mill - provide certification from another body, the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), instead. That will soon be dropped.

"We will no longer be accepting anything else but FSC certifications, which are more stringent and have specific standards," said SEC's head of eco-certification Kavickumar Muruganathan. "We hope to have the change in place by early next year."

He added that the FSC has the support of many environmental groups and has a system of tracing, verifying and labelling timber and wood products.

The PEFC, in contrast, is made up primarily of representatives of the forest products industry, Mr Kavickumar said.

The SEC's move comes on the back of the temporary suspension of Universal Sovereign Trading's green label due to its connection with APP - one of five firms under probe for possible connection to the forest fires causing the haze.

This led to several supermarket firms pulling APP products off their shelves on Wednesday.

The SEC's tightening will mean that APP could lose its green label for good, even if the firm is found not linked to the fires. It also had its FSC certificates revoked in 2007.

FSC's Asia-Pacific regional director Alistair Monument said the firm's certificates around the world were pulled after information came to light "that APP was involved in destructive forestry practices", such as forest clearance and illegal logging.

When contacted, APP did not respond to queries on how SEC's move would affect it.

On the revoking of the FSC certificates, an APP spokesman said there have been many developments since 2007, one of them being working with the FSC on an action plan to potentially get its certification back.

Mr Steven Goh, who runs retail consultancy SG Retail Network, said the SEC's move is a positive one. It is probably also due to the council's need to protect the reputation of its green label.

"Here you have a company that could be linked to forest fires with the green mark on it. That's not a good thing. The new criteria will also give consumers the confidence that its mark is still solid."

Fitness trainer Georgina Chua, 32, said: "When I buy something with the green label on it, I can be assured that it is sustainable. It is important that we can continue to trust such marks."


Can Singaporeans sue for haze compensation?
Hannah Teoh Yahoo Newsroom 9 Oct 15;

Whenever the wind blows in heavy smog from raging Indonesian forest fires, Singapore suffers a heavy economic and social toll.

Just over the weekend, the Singapore Swimming Association was forced to cancel the first day of the Swimming World Cup because the haze reached "very unhealthy" levels. SSA vice president Jose Raymond has estimated the cancellation cost them almost S$200,000 in revenue.

This prompted SSA to seek legal advice and "consider joining other parties and individuals in any class-action suit against any Singapore-listed company which is linked to the burning of forests in Indonesia".

But realistically, do Singapore organisations or individuals affected by the haze have any legal recourse to claim compensation?

Possible legal recourse

Under Singapore's Transboundary Haze Pollution Act (THPA), those found guilty of contributing to the fires can be fined up to $100,000 a day, capped at $2 million, for causing unhealthy haze.

Raymond said the SSA can only take civil action after successful prosecution by the Singapore government based on the THPA.

Eugene Tan, associate professor of law at the Singapore Management University School of Law, said section 6 of the law "provides for a civil law recourse for situations such as where an individual or a company is forced to cancel an event due to the haze conditions and where they sustain economic loss, including a loss of profits”.

However, Tan added that this is easier said than done. "THPA covers errant companies, regardless of whether or not they are based or incorporated in Singapore. But if a company is not based or incorporated or has no assets in Singapore, the enforcement of a penalty would hinge upon Indonesia’s consent and assistance in enforcing it there. Unless there is a bilateral agreement to that effect, a foreign country is not obliged to enforce judgement handed down by a Singapore court,” he explained.

Lawyers that Yahoo Singapore spoke to said that legal costs are likely to outweigh the amount of compensation that can be claimed from companies. Legal costs could run into the tens of thousands and even to a million dollars, depending on the complexity of the case, a few of the lawyers estimated.

In addition, companies whose subsidiaries may be involved in burning Indonesian forests may say there are other culprits such as third parties or farmers in Indonesia legally allowed to burn forests, and such companies may say they are only contributorily negligent, putting further distance between them directly causing the haze.

Alternatives to legal action

Given the challenges in obtaining compensation through legal avenues, Tan offers a suggestion for companies to show that they do not endorse Indonesia’ practices: “[Companies] can ensure that they procure their goods and services from companies which are not directly or indirectly engaged in conduct or [participating] in the management of a company that is causing or contributing to the haze pollution.

One example of how this has been carried out is NTUC FairPrice’s decision to remove Asia Pulp & Paper Group (APP)’s paper products from all its stores on Wednesday (7 Oct).
APP was ordered by the National Environment Agency under the THPA to provide information on its Singapore and Indonesian subsidiaries because it was named as one of the companies possibly behind the forest fires.

Tan said another alternative is to evaluate whether banks have ethical lending practices: “[A company] may also consider whether the banks that it uses have a proper process of evaluating loan applications and the other banking and financial services to ensure that they are not doing business with an entity that is directly or indirectly causing or contributing to the haze pollution."

The Association of Banks in Singapore on Thursday issued guidelines for the inclusion, among others, of the issues of deforestation and forest degradation in the criteria for approving commercial loans.

Read more!

Indonesia: Smoke and haze worsen in Central Kalimantan

thejakartapost.com 10 Oct 15;

Haze caused by forest and peatland fires in North Barito regency, Central Kalimantan, was thicker on Saturday morning, bringing visibility down to 80 meters from 200 meters the day before, according to the local Meteorology and Geophysics Agency in Muara Teweh.

Residents confirmed the worsening smoke. “The smoke and haze are thicker [on Saturday] morning, the visibility was very limited. It leaves us breathless,” said Hermanto, who lives in Muara Teweh.

Meanwhile, an officer at Muara Teweh’s conservation office, Aswaludin, said the satellites NOAA 18 (from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and Terra Aqua (from NASA) detected new hotspots on Friday night.

“The NOAA 18 satellite detected four hotspots, while Terra Aqua detected eight hotspots in different places of North Barito forests,” Aswaludin said.

Meanwhile, House of Representatives Speaker Setya Novanto called on President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to appointed one of his aides as a coordinator to solve the haze disaster.

“I have proposed it to President Jokowi. The coordinator could be the coordinating political, legal and security affairs minister or the coordinating human development and culture minister,” said Setya as quoted by tribbunnews.com on Friday.

Forest fires occur every year and cause a range of problems, affecting human health and disrupting flights. The government has yet to come up with a comprehensive solution to stop the forest fires from recurring annually. (bbn)(++++)

House Speaker: Disaster Mitigation Needs Better Coordination
Setya Novanto, center, is the speaker of Indonesia's House of Representatives. (Antara Photo/Hafidz Mubarak)
Markus Junianto Sihaloho Jakarta Globe 10 Oct 15;

Jakarta. Indonesia's government should quickly appoint a special coordinator for disaster mitigation, to better tackle issues like the yearly forest fires, the speaker of the House of Representatives says.

Speaker Setya Novanto said late on Friday that one of President Joko Widodo's minister should take charge when the country faces a national disaster such as the current haze crisis.

"The president should appoint a minister he trusts," Setya said. "It can be the coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs [Luhut Panjaitan] or the coordinating minister for welfare [Puan Maharani]," he added, giving some examples.

The House speaker also said many more ministers should follow the example the president set by visiting haze-hit areas himself.

"And we would like to thank the countries that are providing us with firefighting equipment," he added, in reference to the offers of help from several countries, including Singapore, Malaysia and Australia.


Police process 33 cases of land fires in W Kalimantan
Antara 11 Oct 15;

Pontianak, W Kalimantan (ANTARA News) - The West Kalimantan Provincial Police have processed 33 cases of land fires which have caused haze to spread across the province in recent months, a spokesman said.

Further, as many as 25 people have been named as suspects in the cases, spokesman for the West Kalimantan Provincial Police Adjunct Senior Commissioner Arianto said here on Saturday.

All the suspects are local people who set fire to land for agricultural and plantation purposes, he noted.

The provincial police are investigating three companies suspected of setting fire to land. The companies have been identified as PT KAL and PT SKM located in Ketapang district and PT RJP located in Kubu Raya district.

"We have investigated the management of the three companies, but we have not named any of them as suspects," he said.

Preliminary data from the provincial police show that some 525 hectares of land in the province caught fire during this drought.

He said 22 hectares of land are located in Kubu Raya district, 14.5 hectares in Sambas district, 2.7 hectares in Bengkayang district, 7 hectares in Landak district, 110 hectares in Sanggau district, 16 hectares in Sekadau district, 60 hectares in Melawi district, 111 hectares in Sintang district, 12 hectares in Kapuas Hulu district, and 33 hectares in Ketapang district.

Minister of Environment and Forestry Siti Nurbaya said, while accompanying President Joko Widodo during an inspection of firefighting efforts in the village of Rimbo Panjang in the district of Kampar in the Sumatra province of Riau on Friday, that 1.7 million hectares of forests and land in Sumatra and Kalimantan have so far been burnt in the fires.(*)

Forest arsonists to face multiple charges
thejakartapost.com 19 Oct 15;

Companies and individuals responsible for forest fires could face multiple charges under the environment, money-laundering and plantation laws, according to the Environment and Forestry Ministry.

“The charges will be multiple to give a deterrent effect,” the ministry’s directorate general secretary of law enforcement, Novrizal Bahar, was quoted as saying by tempo.co on Saturday.

In the past, said Novrizal, forest fire setters appeared to be undeterred by the law, especially after several were acquitted of all charges. Most of them were mere actors in the field, not the instigators.

However, Novrizal voiced optimism that starting this year, law enforcement would be tougher.

“Especially as there is strong momentum at the moment. In Aceh, we have filed a Rp 366 billion [US$27 million] lawsuit against PT Kalistam Alam,” said Novrizal.

He added that the company had previously been found guilty of setting land fires in Nagan Raya regency by the Meulaboh District Court.

Previously, the ministry punished four companies for their involvement in setting forest fires. Three of them, identified only as PT TPR, PT WAJ and PT LIH, had their permits suspended. The permit of the fourth company, PT HS, was revoked as the burned area reached more than 500 hectares. (kes)(++++)


On the spot visit reveals peatland forest fires
Imanuddin Razak, The Jakarta Post 10 Oct 15;

The puzzle over the dominant party responsible for the forest fires that have triggered severe haze problems in several parts of the country seemed to have been solved on Friday.

A central government delegation led by Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Luhut B. Pandjaitan discovered during an on-the-spot visit to the Ogan Komering Ilir (OKI) regency that a large part of the blame ought to be borne by the owners of industrial forest concessions (HTI).

“I found out during our helicopter flight to get here that the hotspots were found on your HTI concession areas here,” Luhut told local South Sumatra administration officials alongside the management of PT Bumi Andalas Permai (BAP), a subsidiary of Sinar Mas Group, at the company’s plantation area in the Air Sugihan subdistrict, OKI regency.

“Local people are often blamed for the fires. In fact, HTI concession holders like you are the parties [who are mainly to blame],” he added.

PT BAP, which holds a HTI concession of 192,000 hectares in the regency, produces paper products.

During the visit, Luhut was accompanied by National Police chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mulyono and South Sumatra Governor Alex Nurdin.

Luhut told the PT BAP management, represented by its Forestry Operation Manager Sapto Nuristio, that the government would demand that the company bear responsibility for the fires and their impact on the environment and the local people.

“For a company holding such a huge HTI concession, in the future you must have at least one water bombing aircraft, have your own fire department, and have your own early warning system,” Luhut said.

Sapto admitted that the company currently had only one helicopter with a small water tank to deal with forest fires.

Luhut warned the company to comply with the demand, otherwise the government would impose penalties.

“I’ll come back here next February to check whether you have complied with the government’s instructions,” he said.

“Pak Kapolri [National Police chief] should think of legal actions against such violations,” he told Badrodin.

Speaking about foreign countries that have expressed interest in helping Indonesia put out the fires, Luhut listed Singapore, Malaysia, China and Russia as the ones who had offered to help.

“For immediate and effective measures to put out the fires, the first is through water bombing. In this case, we are expecting the arrival of two Russian Berriev Be-200 airplanes next Tuesday,” he said, referring to the water-bombing aircraft with a water tank capacity of 12.5 tons.

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said that the foreign countries were expected to focus on helping extinguish fires in South Sumatra, particularly in Ogan Komering Ilir and Musi Banyuasin regencies.


Humans, animals biggest losers in haze crisis
Jon Afrizal and Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, The Jakarta Post 10 Oct 15;

Fires that razed extensive forest areas and peat lands in Sumatra and Kalimantan over the past few weeks have caused local residents to struggle with deteriorating air quality and have instigated cases of conflict with animals displaced from their natural habitat.

In West Tanjung Jabung regency, Jambi, forest fires in the Betara district forced a wild sun bear to escape from its habitat and roam a neighborhood in Serdang Jaya subdistrict, damaging residents’ houses.

“Some 20 houses have been damaged because of the bear’s attack,” subdistrict head Darmayulis said on Friday, adding that the bear usually entered the neighborhood at night.

Swiss-based environmental organization the International Union for Conservation Nature (IUCN) has listed the sun bear as a vulnerable species since 2008.

According to the IUCN, tropical evergreen rainforests are the sun bear’s main habitat on the islands of Borneo, Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia. The bears are unlikely to survive in deforested areas or in agricultural areas with no nearby forest.

Darmayulis said the bear had also attacked houses in the neighboring Pematang Buluh and Muntialo subdistricts. He said that he had reported the case to the Jambi Provincial Natural Resource Conservation Agency (BKSDA), which later provided local residents with wild animal traps to catch the bear.

BKSDA head Abdul Haris Sudjoko confirmed that the ongoing peat land and forest fires in the province had led to potential conflicts between displaced animals and local residents.

“Recently, we have received a number of reports regarding encounters between local residents and wild animals, including elephants, crocodiles and bears,” Haris said.

Over the past few months, many regions in Indonesia, including Riau, Jambi, North Sumatra, South Sumatra and Central Kalimantan, have been struggling to cope with the impact of smoke produced by both man-made and natural land and forest fires.

The ongoing disaster has been exacerbated by this year’s long dry season, triggered by the El Niño weather phenomenon.

In South Sumatra, haze caused 3,074 people in the Ogan Ilir regency to suffer from acute respiratory infections (ISPA) in September alone.

Ogan Ilir Health Agency’s disease mitigation section head Mulyadi said community health centers (Puskesmas) across the region were prepared to work a round the clock to help local residents who needed emergency medical assistance due to haze-related diseases.

In West Sumatra, thick haze had decreased visibility in the Padang, Bukittingi and Padang Panjang municipalities below 900 meters, according to Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) Padang station spokesperson Budi Iman Samiaji.

The BMKG also reported that Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan, had become the city with the worst air quality in the country after its level of particulate matter (PM10) was measured at over 1000 µg/m3 on Friday afternoon.

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.

Meanwhile in Boyolali, Central Java, local authorities have also struggled to put out fires that have razed the forests on the slope of Mount Merbabu since Sept. 27.

The fires, as of Friday, had burned some 270 hectares of land including a protected forest and agricultural fields in Ampel district.

An Air Tractor AT-802F aircraft was deployed to help extinguish the fires by dropping water bombs.

“The bombing was started on Thursday afternoon. Three hours later some of the fires were extinguished. Today [Friday], we are checking the affected areas while at the same time extinguishing remaining fires we find along our way,” Mount Merbabu Park head Wisnu Wibowo said.

Ganug Nugroho Adi from Boyolali contributed to this article

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Malaysia: Jakarta's assurances sought on fighting haze-causing fires

The Star 10 Oct 15;

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has expressed its deep concern on the recurring haze situation in the region and sought Indonesia's assurances to address land and forest fires in the republic.

In a statement issued at the conclusion of the 14th Meeting of the Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) here, Kuala Lumpur said it was ready to provide technical support in the form of manpower and equipment to help Indonesia tackle the problem.

"We welcomed Indonesia's ongoing efforts to address land and forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan, and bring the perpetrators to justice," said the Foreign Ministry statement.

The meeting was co-chaired by Malaysian Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman and his Indonesian counterpart Retno L.P. Marsudi.

The statement noted that Malaysia had dispatched a Bombadier amphibious aircraft to assist in water bombing operations in southern Sumatra.

It was reported that Indonesian President Joko Widodo had contacted the Malaysian, Singaporean, Russian and Japanese governments for help to fight fires especially in peatland areas, which are difficult to put out completely.

The president said the kind of assistance needed were aircraft that could carry huge amounts of water.

On another matter, the statement said the foreign ministers remained committed to resolving outstanding maritime boundaries delimitation and land boundary demarcation.

They acknowledged the progress made by the Technical Committee on the delimitation of maritime boundries and the Joint Land Boundary Committee.

Both ministers also discussed issues related to Indonesian workers in the formal sector and domestic workers.

They noted that the Working Group Meeting on Recruitment of Indonesian Workers as well as the 11th Joint Working Group Meeting on Recruitment and Placement of Indonesian Domestic Workers would be held back-to-back in Jakarta on Oct 15 and 16.

The meetings will discuss Malaysia's proposal for what is called the Government-to-Government Plus mechanism, the statement said.

Both sides exchanged views on matters such as Asean, South China Sea, Indian Ocean Rim Association and irregular migration into Southeast Asia. - Bernama


Malaysia, Indonesia discuss boundary issues, ‎haze‬, labour and trade
Both ministers expressed their satisfaction at the state of bilateral cooperation between the two countries, according to Malaysia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).
Melissa Goh, Malaysia Bureau Chief, Channel NewsAsia 10 Oct 15;

KUALA LUMPUR: Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi has assured neighbouring countries that Jakarta is optimising all efforts to fight haze.

She made the statement after meeting her Malaysian counterpart Anifah Aman at the 14th Meeting of the Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) on Saturday (Oct 10).

They discussed boundary issues, haze conditions, labour and trade, and expressed their satisfaction at the state of bilateral cooperation between the two countries, according to a press release issued by Malaysia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).

As Malaysia and Singapore begin to join efforts to douse land and forest fires in South Sumatra, Ms Marsudi expressed her thanks and appreciation and assured its neighbours that Jakarta was doing its level best to tackle the perennial haze problem.

Kuala Lumpur has deployed a 25-member team along with three assets, including a Bombardier aircraft that is capable of sucking up over 6,000 litres of water in 12 seconds, enough to put out fires the size of football field each round, while Singapore has sent a 40-member team with a Chinook helicopter and two C130s.

When asked whether Jakarta has done enough to fight the fires, Ms Marsudi said: "It's very clear we are already using optimal way in our effort in mitigating the haze."

Her close aide said Jakarta has asked for help from Malaysia, Singapore, Japan and Russia because it did not want to mobilise its assets and troops that are currently involved in putting out fires in Kalimantan.

Earlier, both Malaysia and Indonesian foreign ministers discussed a host of issues from land and sea boundaries, to recruitment of foreign workers.

Both ministers also noted trade and investment cooperation between both countries including cooperation on infrastructure developments in Indonesia, palm oil and tourism. They also looked at new areas of cooperation, such as the conservation of the Sumatran rhinocerous, according to MFA.

Mr Anifah and Ms Marsudi also exchanged views on regional and international issues such as ASEAN, the South China Sea, Indian Ocean Rim Association and irregular migration into Southeast Asia.

An agreement was signed to further deepen bilateral cooperation between the two ASEAN neighbours.

- CNA/dl/al


Haze improving throughout the country
New Straits Times 10 Oct 15;

KUALA LUMPUR: The air quality throughout the country this morning has improved as no area recorded an unhealthy level of Air Pollutant Index (API) as at 9am today.

A total of 37 areas recorded moderate API readings.

According to the Department of Environment (DoE) website, among areas that recorded moderate API readings were Banting (81), Putrajaya (77), Nilai (76), Port Dickson (76) and Shah Alam (75). A total of 14 areas recorded healthy API readings including Alor Setar, Kedah and Kapit, Sarawak, each recording 50 while Indera Mahkota, Kuantan and Keningau, Sabah with 48 each. An API reading of 0 to 50 indicates good air quality; 51 to 100, moderate; 101 to 200, unhealthy; 201 to 300, very unhealthy and above 300, hazardous.

The public can refer to the DOE portal at apims.doe.gov.my for the latest API reading. -- Bernama

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Australia offers aid to tackle fires

thejakartapost.com 10 Oct 15;

Australia has expressed its willingness to help extinguish forest fires in several parts of Indonesia.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said that Australia had offered its L100 aircraft from the New South Wales fire department to be used to tackle the disaster, which has caused hazardous pollution in at least six provinces in the country and has caused more than 135,000 citizens to suffer from respiratory infections (ISPA).

“The fires keep burning due to the prolonged dry season in all parts of Indonesia,” said Julie in a press release on Saturday as quoted by tempo.co.

She added that Australians were currently facing the threat of bushfire as well.

“We want to aid our neighboring country to show our solidarity,” said Julie.

At least five countries have offered their assistance to tackle the fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan. These are: Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, China and Russia. (kes)(++++)


Haze efforts in full swing
Ina Parlina and Rizal Harahap, The Jakarta Post 10 Oct 15;

With the assistance of Singapore and Malaysia, Indonesia has begun a huge mitigation operation to extinguish forest and peatland fires that have sent thick haze over neighboring countries in the region.

With the help of the two countries, along with three others, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said on Friday that Indonesian disaster mitigation personnel were hard at work putting out the fires.

“I saw military and police personnel, as well as those from the BNPB [National Disaster Mitigation Agency] have indeed been working [hard],” Jokowi said while visiting an area where forest fires occurred in Kampar regency, Riau.

Jokowi also expressed his hope that the joint efforts could eliminate the haze sooner than expected.

Earlier, Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan and BNPB head Willem Rampangilei briefed the President, saying it would take at least two weeks to tackle the haze problem.

Both Luhut and Willem were in South Sumatra on Friday to receive aircraft from Singapore and Malaysia, aimed at helping to put out fires especially in South Sumatra where the majority of hot spots are located. The foreign assistance will mostly be concentrated on South Sumatra.

“Their target is around two weeks. Because we hope that by having larger-capacity airplanes for water bombing, we can handle the situation soon,” Jokowi said.

Earlier on Thursday, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi made contact with three of her counterparts — from Russia, China and Australia — receiving confirmation that the countries were prepared to help Indonesia, especially on a plan to dispatch aircraft able to carry 10,000 liters of water to put out fires.

According to the BNPB, Singapore is set to deploy a Chinook helicopter equipped with a bucket able to carry 5,000 liters of water for aerial firefighting to Palembang on Friday afternoon, and a Hercules C-130 aircraft for cloud-seeding, as well as a Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) firefighting assistance team and other equipment.

Malaysia, meanwhile, dispatched a Bombardier CL-415 for water-bombing operations, a Hercules C-130 aircraft, a small helicopter for surveys, a number of crew members and other equipment.

“The request for flight clearance has been sent by Malaysia to [Indonesia’s] Foreign Ministry,” BNPB spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said on Friday, adding that Indonesia had been working with five water-bombing helicopters, two Air Tractor aircraft and one Casa 212 aircraft.

The government previously declined repeated offers of assistance from Singapore on the basis that Indonesia had enough manpower to put out the fires, but eventually gave in following pressure from leaders in the region.

Earlier this week, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak called on Indonesia to take action against people setting the fires that have caused heavy smoke across the region.

Schools in Malaysia and Singapore closed when the smoke was at its worst, with conditions also forcing the cancelation of a number of sports events.

Health authorities across the region have warned people to avoid outdoor exercise on bad pollution days.

Indonesia has routinely brushed off complaints, while at the same time vowing year after year to stop the fires.

In a number of cities in Sumatra, the thick smoke has taken its toll on the local population.

Kampar Regent Jefry Noer said the haze had caused an increasing number of acute respiratory infections in the regency.

“Around 20 people come to the clinic every day, which offers free treatment 24 hours,” said Jefry.

As a long-term solution to the haze problem, Jokowi has said that local administrations have started to build canal blocks for rewetting peat in several areas in Sumatra and Kalimantan, but said that “it would take time”.

Jokowi has also considered a plan to procure three aircraft that could carry more water — around four times more than the existing planes — and at the same time transport aid to disaster-affected areas.

“At least three units [of aircraft] with big capacity that are able to drop more than 12 tons [12,000 liters of water],” Jokowi said.


Multinational efforts tackle haze
Hans Nicholas Jong, The Jakarta Post 11 Oct 15;
Resources contributed by neighboring countries in the region have begun making their way to regions suffering the most from fires that have destroyed 1.7 million hectares of forest and land in the archipelago and have cost the country an estimated US$14 billion.

Singapore started deploying its personnel to Sumatra, where 45.9 percent of the fires located.

“Indonesian authorities provided clearance [to Singapore] last night. This morning a Chinook and two
C-130s took off ferrying men and equipment to fight the fires in Palembang,” Ng Eng Hen, Singapore’s defense minister, said Saturday.

The Chinook helicopter carried a 5,000-liter heli-bucket, which is a water dispenser slung underneath the aircraft.

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said the Chinook helicopter and C-130 Hercules airplanes from Singapore landed in Palembang, South Sumatra at 11 a.m. .

“They are currently being briefed by the disaster mitigation chief and the water bombing will start immediately after that,” BNPB spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said on Saturday.

Earlier on Friday, a CL415 Bombardier amphibious aircraft and crew arrived from Malaysia to join in the mitigation efforts, Sutopo said.

“This evening, one Dolphin helicopter with four crew members will also arrive [from Malaysia],” Sutopo said. “The Malaysian team will be stationed at Pangkal Pinang and will carry out water bombing in the Selapan and Air Sugihan regions, Ogan Komering Ilir regency, South Sumatra.”

The Indonesian government initially insisted it would not accept help from other countries to battle the forest fires.

However, the smoky haze from the land-clearing fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan has been exacerbated by the current dry season caused by the El Niño weather phenomenon, with NASA warning it is on track to become the worst man-made disaster of its kind on record.

The hazardous haze has forced the closure of thousands of schools, grounded hundreds of flights and caused transboundary air pollution to affect Indonesia’s neighbors.

Faced with these grim predictions, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo finally sought help from Singapore, Russia, Malaysia and Japan to put out the fires on Thursday. The President plans for all fires to be extinguished within two weeks.

“Japan and Australia have contacted us in preparation to send assistance,” Sutopo said, adding that Singapore and Malaysia will operate for two weeks only.

Besides deploying assistance, Singapore is also taking legal action that could lead to massive fines against Indonesian companies blamed for the fires, including multinational Asia Pulp and Paper (APP).

APP was asked by Singapore’s National Environment Agency to supply information on its subsidiaries operating in Singapore and Indonesia, as well as measures taken by its suppliers in Indonesia to put out fires in their concessions.

APP is part of Indonesia’s Sinar Mas conglomerate, one of the world’s largest pulp and paper groups. It publicly upholds “sustainability” and forest conservation as core principles. Its products include stationery and toilet paper.

Last week, the biggest supermarket in Singapore, NTUC FairPrice, withdrew from its shelves all paper products sourced from APP, which has corporate offices in Singapore, as it was among those companies under investigation by Singapore’s National Environment Agency (NEA) over the forest fires in Indonesia.

The NEA temporarily disallowed APP’s products from receiving a “green label” certification. The banned products include tissue and other toiletry products.

The Association of Indonesian Forest Concessionaires (APHI) said it was unfair for the Singaporean retailer to withdraw APP products from its shelves, believing it had stepped over law enforcement in Indonesia.

“We’re talking about a country, which means that a country has to implement the concept of innocent until proven guilty. Legal processes [taken by the Indonesian government] are still going on,” APHI legal and communication department coordinator Yuki Wardhana told reporters on Saturday. “The government [of Indonesia] should have responded firmly [against the action of the Singaporean retailer].”

In a press statement, APP Singapore promised to release all the information needed and it would invite Singaporean authorities to visit its sites and concessions so that the authorities could directly inspect the company’s operations in Indonesia.

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