Indonesia: One dead following heavy rains, flooding across Riau

Rizal Harahap, The Jakarta Post 21 Jan 16;

Flooding caused by heavy downpours and overflowing rivers has inundated several regions in the country, killing at least one person and paralyzing economic activities in the affected areas.

In Kampar, Riau, floods have engulfed several districts in the regency over the past three days, causing material damage and claiming the life of 10-year-old M. Rifai Afri.

Rifai, who lived in Palung Raya subdistrict, Tambang district, was reported missing on Sunday afternoon at around 3 p.m. local time by his father, who had left him alone at home to buy kerosene.

The SD 15 state elementary school fifth grader was last seen playing alone not far from his home. He was believed to have slipped into a 120-centimeter-deep ground hole that had filled with water from the Kampar River, which had bursts its banks. As he could not swim, he was swept by strong river currents.

“His body was found the next day. His family refused an autopsy be performed on him as it wanted to bury him immediately,” Kampar Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) head Santoso said on Wednesday.

Overflowing water from the Kampar River has submerged areas along its banks after the Koto Panjang
hydroelectric power plant (PLTA) was forced to open its sluice gates to maintain a water level of 85 meters above sea level. Incessant rain in upstream areas in the neighboring West Sumatra province has caused water to fill up the dam drastically.

Apart from engulfing around 5,000 homes, flooding has also swamped various public facilities, including schools along the Kampar River basin area passing through the seven districts of Kampar, North Kampar, East Kampar, Rumbio Jaya, Tambang, Siak Hulu, and Perhentian Raja.

The Kampar Education Agency said that as many as 66 schools were been forced to close as classrooms were engulfed up to a meter high.

“There is no access to schools and the flooding could endanger the safety of children,” said Kampar Health Agency secretary Edi Rusmadinata.

Separately, Kampar Fishery Agency head Usman Amin said water released from the Koto Panjang PLTA had also caused hundreds of fish farmers from Merangin village, Kuok district, to Gobah village, Tambang district, to suffer losses of up to Rp 5.6 billion (US$414,000).

Spokesperson for the Riau and Riau Islands branch of state power company PLN, Sarno, said the dam must release its water to maintain its capacity and strength.

“The release of water from the dam due to overcapacity has been carried out for years. Before water is released, every area passed by the river is notified through village elders, community figures and village officials,” he said.

Flooding has also hit several regions in South Sumatra and East Java over the past several days.

In South Sumatra, a flash flood triggered by heavy downpours over the past couple of days has engulfed hundreds of homes in Muara Kelingi district, Musirawas regency. The 3-meter flash flood, caused by the overflowing Musi River following heavy rains from Monday, has brought people’s daily activities to a halt.

In Pamekasan regency, East Java, 11 local government buildings were inundated by floodwater on Wednesday following heavy downpours in the region’s downtown area for more than four hours.

Among the affected buildings are those belonging to the regency’s industry and trade, public works, irrigation and disaster mitigation agencies.

“All documents, however, are safe, as the floods occurred during work hours,” Pamekasan Irrigation Agency head Achmad Sjaifuddin said as quoted by Antara news agency.

Flash flood damages homes, bridge in Jambi

The Jakarta Post 20 Jan 16;

A flash flood, triggered by the swollen Batang Asam River, struck houses in Tanjung Belit village, Jujuhan district, Bungo regency, Jambi, on Monday.

“The incidence took place at about 2 a.m. local time when most people were fast asleep. After seeing the water rise, people immediately left their homes,” said villager Azhar on Tuesday.

“A nearby bridge was also engulfed by water and logs have piled up under it,” he added.

Tanjung Belit village chief Mahyudin said that besides damaging homes, the flash flood also cut off access to the village.

“As a result, the road heading to the bridge is impassable for four-wheeled vehicles,” said Mahyudin.


Death toll rises as heavy rains cause more flooding, landslides
Jon Afrizal, Syamsul Huda M. Suhari and Lita Aruperes, The Jakarta Post 22 Jan 16;

Heavy downpours have continued to spread across the archipelago, triggering a landslide that killed at least three people in Jambi and North Sulawesi and floods that submerged hundreds of houses in Gorontalo.

A series of heavy rainfalls throughout Wednesday in Kerinci regency, Jambi, has triggered a landslide that buried three people alive in the hilly Sungai Air Sangkil area in East Air Hangat district.

The three victims, identified as Buyung, 42, Sardono, 24, and Wani, 37, worked as laborers on a farm in the area.

“The three victims were on their way home on Wednesday when the landslide buried them,” East Air Hangat district chief Montes told reporters on Thursday.

As of Thursday, local authorities had only managed to recover the bodies of Buyung and Sardono.

“We are still looking for the body of the third victim,” East Air Hangat Police chief First Insp. Iswanto said.

Another landslide triggered by heavy rainfalls in Manado, North Sulawesi, also killed 61-year-old Fredy Tengker on a farm near his house in Malalayang district on Thursday.

“I was delivering lunch for my brother when I found his body swept away by soil quite far from the farm,” the victim’s brother, Max Tengker, said.

Meanwhile in Gorontalo province, heavy rains poured in Gorontalo and North Gorontalo regencies from Wednesday evening to Thursday afternoon, triggering floods that inundated at least eight villages in the two neighboring regions.

Head of logistics at Gorontalo Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), Tahir Laendeng, said floodwater and mud had inundated more than 200 houses in four villages in Gorontalo regency.

Tahir said his agency had set up two evacuation shelters to anticipate the continued impacts of the floods.

“We have also prepared food supplies for flood victims,” he said.

In North Gorontalo, Nurdin, a local BPBD official, said floods had hit at least four villages in Sumalata district.

“Hutakalo subdistrict is the worst affected area as floodwater there has inundated dozens of houses up to two meters deep. As of this [Thursday] afternoon, there is no sign that the floodwater will subside,”
Nurdin said.

After experiencing a prolonged dry season last year, many parts of the country have welcomed the arrival of the rainy season over the past several weeks.

In late November, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) warned that several areas, including North Sumatra, West Sumatra, Bengkulu, Jambi and South Sumatra, would be prone to floods on account of heavy downpours. Meanwhile, other regions, including Bengkulu, Aceh, southern parts of West Java, parts of Central Java and West Nusa Tenggara, were said to be prone to landslides.

Last month, more than a dozen villagers in Lebong Tandai, North Bengkulu, were killed when a landslide triggered by a heavy rainfall hit the huts where they were sleeping.

Meanwhile in Kampar regency, Riau, a 10-year-old child died earlier this week after he was swept away by floods due to heavy downpours and an overflowing Kampar River.

The BMKG, however, has warned that heavy rainfall will continue to pour in many parts of the country for the rest of the week.

“Rain with medium to high intensity will continue to spread across Gorontalo and North Gorontalo regencies starting on Thursday afternoon,” Gorontalo BMKG forecaster Fatuhri said.

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Indonesia: Food crisis looms in NTT, C. Sulawesi amid drought

Djemi Amnifu, Ruslan Sangadji and Lita Aruperes, The Jakarta Post 21 Jan 16;

Despite the arrival of the rainy season in many parts of the archipelago, it is expected that millions of people in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) and Central Sulawesi will soon face a food crisis due to a prolonged drought in the two regions.

Deputy NTT Governor Benny Litelnoni said that, despite heavy rainfall in many other parts of the country, all 22 regions in the province had only recorded low rainfall and that this rain had not been enough to recover from last year’s prolonged dry season.

Most local farmers are yet to begin planting and the province, according to Benny, is at risk of food shortage.

“We received reports of drought from all 22 regions and have deployed a team to make inventories. After that, we will immediately take appropriate measures,” Benny told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

The NTT provincial administration extended the drought emergency period in the region from Dec. 31 to Jan. 31, Benny added.

In anticipation of the low rainfall, Benny said that he had also called on farmers, through relevant agencies, to grow short-term crops.

“Amid the current water crisis, short-term crops should be grown as an effort to maintain family food reliance,” Benny said, adding that the prolonged dry season in NTT had been partly triggered by the El Niño weather phenomenon.

NTT, home to 5.3 million people, requires approximately 300,000 tons of rice per year for local consumption.

As of this week, the NTT branch of State Logistics Agency (Bulog) had 46,000 tons of rice in storage.

The director of non-government group Gerbang Mas, in South Timor Tengah (TTS) regency, Konrad Mariaman, said that a food crisis was imminent following the prolonged dry season.

“The government should immediately take anticipatory measures. A food crisis would have a severe impact on malnutrition,” he noted, adding that rain had yet to fall in a number of southern areas in the regency, such as Kuanfatu, Kolbano, Kualin and South Amanuban districts.

In Central Sulawesi, tens of hectares of rice fields in Parigi Moutong regency are also at risk of being abandoned due to a water shortage in irrigation channels as a result of drought.

Most farmers in Petapa subdistrict, Central Parigi, for instance, stopped cultivating their rice fields after harvest two months ago.

“Usually, both the rainy season and planting season begin in January, but we could not grow due to a lack of water,” said local farmer Moh. Yusran.

Petapa subdistrict chief Yushar said most rice fields in his area were rain-dependent. As a result, during drought, farmers are forced to remain idle.

The subdistrict administration, he added, had been making an effort to overcome the problem by building an irrigation system with village funds and assistance from the regency administration.

Data from the Parigi Moutong regional administration shows that, in the regency, the total rice field area reaches more than 31,000 hectares. With each hectare producing between 7 and 8 tons of dried paddy, Parigi Moutong was once able to produce 224,000 tons of dried paddy, equivalent to 134.500 tons of rice,

Meanwhile, in North Sulawesi, more than 700 residents in Miangas district, Talaud Islands regency, have been struggling with food scarcity because the country’s northernmost region has not been served by a pioneer ship since last month.

Miangas district chief Steven Edwin Maarisit acknowledged that food supplies were thinning. “The food stocks will only last for the next couple of weeks,” said Maarisit.

North Sulawesi Transportation Agency head Joy Oroh said that the situation was caused by a shift in the schedule of pioneer ship operations. “We are still waiting for the implementation of the newly-issued Presidential Decree [regarding pioneer ships]. We hope that four ships will be in operation by the end of the week,” Joy said.

Kupang needs additional stock of rice to forestall shortage
Antara 21 Jan 16;

Kupang (ANTARA News) - The district of Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, said it needs additional stock of rice to forestall shortage with harvest failure in some areas of the district as a result of El Nino-triggered prolonged drought.

The eastern part of the country has been hit the hardest by the drought caused by the weather phenomenon over the past year.

"We have asked for supply from Jakarta. Hopefully we will receive the shipment soon," Regent Ayub Titu Eki said here on Thursday.

Currently the district administration has only 11 tons of rice in stock, the district head said, adding it is feared the stock would not be enough to meet the requirement.

Most farmers in the district chose to grow vegetables, and groundnut, which are more resistant to drought.
(Uu.H-ASG/F001)

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Indonesia braces for La Nina-induced heavy rainy season

Fardah Antara 21 Jan 16;

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia was hit hard by the El Nino weather phenomenon last year and has been described by experts as one of the worst ever to be experienced in history.

El Nino triggered a prolonged drought, caused crop failures, and led to forest, peatland, and plantation fires, particularly on the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan, in 2015.

The fires ravaged over 2.6 million hectares of forest and peatland areas and produced toxic haze.

The environmental disaster impacted the health, education and livelihoods of millions of people on the two major islands of Indonesia as well as neighboring countries particularly Singapore and Malaysia.

Early estimates of the total economic costs of the fires in 2015 in Indonesia alone exceed US$16 billion, according to the World Bank, which is helping to assess the costs of the fires and haze in a variety of sectors.

Approximately 5 million students were impacted by school closures in 2015, a feature story entitled "Indonesias Fires and Haze Crisis" posted on the World Bank website in November 2015 said.

"While not yet fully analyzed, the costs related to biodiversity may exceed US$295 million for 2015. The long-term impact on wildlife and biodiversity is also not fully known, but thousands of hectares of habitat for orangutans and other endangered species have been destroyed," the World Bank wrote.

As the country is still grappling with the impacts of El Nino, the national meteorological, climatology and geophysics agency (BMKG) has recently announced that another natural phenomenon called La Nina, which is the opposite of El Nino and usually triggers a heavy rainy season in Indonesia, is forecast to begin in September 2016.

"We continue to monitor the signs of La Nina, and we do not exactly know how it would be. El Nino is forecast to weaken after March, following which there will be a balance, and thereafter, La Nina will occur whose impacts would likely be felt in the end of 2016," Head of BMKGs Meteorology and Publication Department, Mulyono R. Prabowo, stated.

He could not forecast the intensity of La Nina, but it would usually be milder. He, however, cautioned inhabitants of the regions prone to landslides to be on alert.

La Nina would likely trigger floods in urban areas such as Jakarta, he pointed out.

"Southern Jakarta will experience high precipitation, and it will affect Central Jakarta," he noted.

Sea tides and the lack of water absorption areas could worsen the flooding.

"In such a situation, water pumps will not be effective," he remarked.

Both El Nino and La Nina have gravely impacted Indonesia in the past.

Prabowo has forecast high precipitation in February and March this year, and later it will slow down.

The meteorology agency and the Agriculture Ministry have developed a dynamic planting calendar to help farmers decide when to plant and which crops are suitable for planting in certain seasons.

In fact, the agriculture ministry is making preparations in anticipation of the natural phenomena La Nina, which usually leads to a very wet and prolonged rainy season in certain regions.

The anticipatory measures are crucial to mitigate the impact of La Nina on agricultural crop production, Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman said recently.

"The BMKG has forecast that the weather will remain normal this year. La Nina is likely to occur in October, but we are preparing in advance, as we did while dealing with drought last year," the minister stated.

To mitigate the impact of floods that could lead to crop failure, the ministry will improve irrigation networks, provide pumps to dispose of water, and build deep as well as shallow wells to absorb water in flood-prone areas, such as those in Karawang in West Java Province and Jombang in East Java.

He has also coordinated with the National Logistics Agency (Bulog) to shore up rice stocks before La Nina-induced downpours start affecting the farming activities.

Furthermore, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has warned that La Nina might intensify hydrometeorological natural disasters, such as floods, landslides, and whirlwinds in parts of the country this year.

"Based on BMKGs forecast, La Nina phenomenon is likely to strengthen in mid-2016," BNPB spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho remarked on Dec. 18, 2015.

He said at least 315 districts and municipalities are expected to experience flooding, affecting more than 63.7 million people. Some 274 districts and municipalities are at risk of landslides.

Due to high precipitation, the provinces of Central, West, and East Java are prone to flooding, landslides, and strong winds, he pointed out.

To anticipate landslides, the BNPB needs to install hundreds of early warning devices, but the agency currently only has 50 units.

Last year, the agency had informed that 99 percent of the natural disasters hitting Indonesia in 2014 were hydro-meteorological in nature -- floods, landslides, and whirlwinds.

The agencys data showed that 496 instances of whirlwinds, 458 floods, and 413 landslides affected Indonesia during 2014.

Landslides led to 338 deaths, displaced 79,341 residents, and damaged 5,814 houses in Indonesia in 2014.
(T.F001/INE/KR-BSR)

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No, South Africa hasn't turned the tide on its rhino poaching crisis

2015 may have seen a small dip in the number of rhino poached in South Africa, but the level of killing is still double natural reproduction rates
Karl Mathiesen The Guardian 21 Jan 16;

The announcement that South African rhino poaching deaths fell slightly in 2015 adds a misleading gloss to another devastating year in which criminal gangs expanded their operations into new, even more delicate rhinoceros populations.

South Africa’s environment minister Edna Molewa said on Thursday that 1,175 dead rhinos were discovered during the country’s annual census of poaching activities - 40 less than the 2014 record of 1,215.

“I am today pleased to announce that for the first time in a decade - the poaching situation has stabilised,” said Molewa. Since 2007, when just 13 rhinos were taken for their horns, poaching has spiralled into a crisis that now threatens the last stronghold of southern white rhinos an has grown so bad that the government has enlisted the armed forces to assist park rangers.

The South African government was keen to tie the “stabilisation” to an increase in poaching-related arrests and firearms seizures, beefed-up security around Kruger National Park (where the majority of animals are killed) and the translocation of 124 rhinos to more secure areas.

“Were it not for these interventions, the situation would be far worse and many more rhino would be lost,” said Molewa.

Wildlife advocates, while praising South Africa’s renewed efforts to combat poachers, were quick to point out that stable numbers did not equate to a stable situation.

“It’s still catastrophic,” said Dan Stiles, an expert on the illegal wildlife trade. Heather Sohl, WWF-UK’s chief advisor on species, said the current level of poaching was “totally absurd”.

“In the 17 years preceding the sudden escalation in 2008, fewer than 36 rhinos used to be killed by poachers in South Africa each year,” she said.

Tom Milliken, a rhino expert from wildlife trade watchdog Traffic, warned about misinterpretation of the South African census numbers. He said the real number of deaths could be considerably higher given that not all poached rhino carcasses are found. With this uncertainty taken into account, he said, the results of the 2014 and 2015 censuses were “virtually the same”.

He said the loss of more than 800 animals from Kruger alone - roughly 10% of the park’s remaining animals in one year - was double the natural rate of reproduction.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if numbers [of rhino] were starting to go down,” he said, although the government said the population remained stable.

Milliken said the “stabilisation” may have more to do with the total number of rhinos that poachers are able to take on their smash and grab missions across the border from Mozambique.

“The low-hanging fruit are rhino populations that are pushed up against a border for one reason or another. They are possibly the easiest animals to get. If you have to walk in and penetrate the park deeper and deeper, that could be an impediment,” said Milliken.

The pyrrhic victory in South Africa was outweighed by a dramatic increase in poaching of the critically endangered black rhino in Namibia and Zimbabwe.

“The overall situation for Africa has not changed at all, this year is really going to show record levels of rhino poaching,” said Milliken. The South African announcement brought the total number of rhinos poached in Africa to 1,305 - six more than 2014 and the worst year in decades.

In Namibia the number lost to poachers jumped from 24 in 2014 to 80 last year. At the same time, Zimbabwe reported an increase from 11 to more than 50. Together the three countries (including South Africa) house 95% of remaining African rhino.

The rapid explosion of South Africa’s poaching crisis shows how quickly criminal gangs are able to scale up operations once they set up in a country. Milliken called the rise of poaching in Namibia, which has the largest remnant population of black rhino, as “horrifyingly worrying”.

“What we are seeing is the conflagration is spreading to other rhino populations,” said Milliken. “What’s happening [in Namibia] is the same kind of poaching brand that South Africa has represented. There’s the presence of the Asian syndicates, there’s some degree of corruption in the private sector and there’s other evidence of government officials being corrupted and involved.”

Millken said many Chinese nationals, working as development officials with legitimate jobs, had been implicated in the growing trade. As China’s influence in the continent grew, he said, so too would the influence of the international gangs that drive the trade.


Shaw said the developments should prompt national governments and their international law enforcement partners to enrol local communities in the fight against poachers.

“The infiltration of these communities by sophisticated criminal gangs not only threatens rhinos, it also compromises the safety and sustainable development of the people living in these communities,” said Shaw.

“Local communities can help tackle wildlife crime, but only if they see themselves as active partners in conservation with a real stake in protecting wildlife, not just as pawns in a fight between law enforcement officers and international criminal syndicates.”

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Best of our wild blogs: 21 Jan 16

Black water at Punggol Jetty
wild shores of singapore

Punggol mangroves being smothered by clay?
wild shores of singapore

Glorious comeback: NEW walks
BES Drongos

Which Duck is this?
Singapore Bird Group

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2 hawker centres to pilot food waste recycling systems on premise

If the pilot is successful, food waste recycling could reduce the total waste generated from both hawker centres by up to 80 per cent, says NEA.
Chan Luo Er Channel NewsAsia 21 Jan 16;

SINGAPORE: A two-year on-site food waste recycling pilot at two hawker centres, Ang Mo Kio Blk 628 Market and Tiong Bahru Market, was launched on Thursday (Jan 21).

The National Environment Agency (NEA) estimated that each market generates two to three tonnes of food waste daily, with the majority from stalls in the wet market and table cleaning operations. If the pilot is successful, food waste recycling could reduce the total waste generated from both hawker centres by up to 80 per cent, the agency said.

For instance, the machine at Ang Mo Kio Blk 628 Market, operated by Eco-Wiz, is able to convert one tonne of food waste into water within 24 hours. The water is then used for cleaning the bin centre, said NEA.

The machine at Tiong Bahru Market, under VRM Operations, grinds up food waste and mixes it with micro-organisms. The resulting mixture is stored on the premise in 15 1,000-litre tanks. When the tanks are full, they are transported off-site to be converted into bio-fertiliser for agricultural purposes.

Vendors at both markets install and maintain the food waste recycling machines, as well as train cleaners and stall holders to segregate waste.

When the winning bids were announced in October last year, NEA had said that the markets were selected based on the number and mix of their stalls. There are a total of 218 stalls and 342 stalls at Ang Mo Kio Blk 628 Market and Tiong Bahru Market, respectively.

The pilot, which is expected to conclude in December 2017, is part of Singapore's efforts to become a zero-waste nation under the Sustainable Singapore Blueprint 2015.

Food waste accounts for 10 per cent of total waste generated in Singapore. In 2014, 788,600 tonnes of food waste was generated of which 101,400 tonnes was recycled. The remaining food waste was disposed of at incineration plants, according to NEA.

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Singapore 'extremely vulnerable' to Zika virus: Experts

938LIVE reports: Two infectious disease experts say any Zika virus outbreak in Singapore could potentially overshadow the number of dengue cases seen this year.

Monica Kotwani, 938LIVE Channel NewsAsia 20 Jan 16;

SINGAPORE: The Republic is "extremely vulnerable" to the Zika virus, which is spreading throughout Central and South America, said two infectious disease experts.

Speaking to 938LIVE, they said any outbreak in Singapore could potentially overshadow the large number of dengue cases seen this year.

They further recommended that doctors should start documenting the travel history of patients with fever, and test them for the Zika virus should they test negative for dengue. Authorities have been stepping up the fight against a rising number of dengue cases.

Should it be introduced in Singapore, tackling the Zika virus could prove to be challenging, the experts said. The Zika virus is spread by the Aedes mosquito, which is also responsible for transmitting dengue.

According to authorities, the Aedes mosquitoes are breeding in growing numbers in Singapore, due to record high temperatures.

To date, no cases of Zika virus have been reported in Singapore, according to a journal published by the Ministry of Health (MOH) in 2014. Zika is not a legally notifiable disease under the Infectious Diseases Act - this means that patients with the virus are not required to report their condition to the authorities within a prescribed time.

ZIKA’S RAPID SPREAD

In South America, the rapid spread of the virus after eight years of laying low has taken many by surprise, and could be a warning closer to home. In Brazil, about 1.5 million people are thought to have contracted the virus, almost as many as those who have contracted dengue.

The virus has symptoms similar to dengue and chikungunya, such as fever with or without a rash, joint pains and headaches. Unlike dengue, the virus has not been associated with deaths in adults.

However, experts 938LIVE spoke with said they are still concerned. It may be associated with the Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare neurological condition, and it could also affect pregnant women.

Professor Annelies Wilder-Smith, an Emerging Infectious Diseases expert at Nanyang Technological University's Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, said the outbreak in Brazil has shown that there is probably a link between the virus and pregnancy-related infections.

She added: “Infection during pregnancy has affected the unborn. Unfortunately, it causes malformations including microcephaly, which is a very small head circumference.

“Several children have already died. This is the main concern and why we are so scared of the Zika virus."

There are already fears Zika could spread to the United States. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended that pregnant women consider postponing their travel to areas where the transmission of Zika is ongoing.

Currently, there is no vaccine to prevent the infection of Zika, said MOH in the journal. Patients would usually be given medication to manage symptoms such as fever and joint pain.

Travellers visiting places where human cases of Zika have been reported would be advised to protect themselves from mosquito bites, such as by using insect repellent and wearing long-sleeved garments, said MOH.

Zika virus can cause fever, rash, joint pain and conjunctivitis, with symptoms usually lasting under a week, but in pregnant women, the virus can spread to the fetus and cause brain shrinkage or death. (AFP/Nelson Almeida)

LOCAL REACH OF VIRUS

With globalisation, Prof Wilder-Smith said it is a matter of time before the first imported case of Zika virus is found in Singapore.

It could be spread in Singapore if a person infected overseas arrives in Singapore, and is bitten by an Aedes mosquito. That mosquito could go on to infect other people.

An outbreak could overshadow the current spread of dengue cases, and Prof Wilder-Smith said this is because the population here is “totally non-immune … to the Zika virus”.

However, there is also a chance it could already be here. Professor Duane Gubler, who is with the Duke-NUS Medical School's Emerging Infectious Diseases Programme, said the virus could have been previously misdiagnosed as dengue.

He said: "Zika virus is a close relative of dengue. They both belong to the same genus and same family. They both cause a similar illness and therefore they're misdiagnosed.

“Zika has been known in the region. It's very likely Zika has been circulating silently in places like Indonesia, Malaysia and most likely Singapore. I don't know, it's all speculation. But it's not unlikely that that was occuring.”

Prof Wilder-Smith also said awareness has to be stepped up. "We need to increase awareness among clinicians to also look for Zika in travellers who return with a febrile illness from countries that are currently having Zika virus circulation,” she said.

“Furthermore, all of us need to keep abreast of developments because it's evolving."

Prof Gubler, who also chairs the National Environment Agency’s Dengue Expert Advisory Panel, agrees that physicians must stay vigilant while considering Zika in their diagnoses.

He said authorities need to intensify mosquito control, but that researchers should also look at developing a vaccine for the virus, which could become an important public health problem if indeed microcephaly is linked to it.

- 938LIVE/xk

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Malaysia: Large weaverbird seizure in northern Peninsular Malaysia

TRAFFIC 20 Jan 16;

Gerik, Malaysia, 20th January 2016—Close to 1,500 Baya Weavers Ploecus phillipinus have been seized by the Perak Border Security Agency in collaboration with the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (PERHILITAN) in Perak near Gerik, northern Peninsular Malaysia.

Two men were arrested during the raid at the Perah Rest and Recreation area after authorities inspected their vehicle and found four large cages with 1,480 Baya Weavers inside them. The birds were allegedly en route to the State capital, Ipoh, for sale.

Baya Weaver, locally known as Ciak Tempua, is native to Malaysia and is protected under the country’s Wildlife Conservation Act 2010. The collection and keeping of the weaver’s unique nest, traded as an ornamental piece, is regulated through a licensing system in Peninsular Malaysia.

Those convicted of illegal possession of a protected species in Malaysia can be fined up to MYR50,000 (USD11,900) or imprisonment for a term not more than two years, or both.

Although this is the largest such incident involving Bays Weavers in recent times, from 2012 to 2015, at least 739 Baya Weavers were reported to have been seized by authorities in Peninsular Malaysia. According to PERHILITAN, the Baya Weaver was the second most numerous bird species involved in seizures in 2015, after the White-rumped Shama Copsychus malabaricus. One trader caught illegally selling Baya Weavers last year claimed the species is thought to bring good fortune to its owner.

TRAFFIC congratulates the Perak Border Security Agency and PERHILITAN on their success in stopping the illegal trade of these birds.

Throughout Southeast Asia, wild-caught birds are in high demand as cage birds, with some species bought and released for merit purposes.

Members of the public in Malaysia are encouraged to report incidences of suspected illegal wildlife activities to the MYCAT Wildlife Crime Hotline at 019-354 4191, or directly to PERHILITAN’s Hotline 1800-88-5151.

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Malaysia: Sabah Wildlife department probing deaths of sun bear and turtles

RUBEN SARIO The Star 20 Jan 16;

KOTA KINABALU: A probe is underway to find those responsible for the killings of a Bornean sun bear and six turtles in separate incidents at Sabah’s east coast over the past week.

Sabah Wildlife Department director William Baya said they had begun their investigations immediately after the discovery of the carcasses of these protected animals.

“We have not identified any suspects for now,” he told The Star on Wednesday.

On Jan 18, two Swedish tourists made a gruesome discovery of the carcass of a sun bear cut in half in the Sungai Kinabatangan.

The tourists - Tommy Eriksson and his wife Teuta Hajra - took photos of the slaughtered animal with both its hind paws missing floating in the river near Kampung Sukau, adjacent to a plantation.

Earlier on Jan 16, visitors to Semporna spotted the decomposing carcasses of six turtles in waters off several islands in Semporna.

Wildlife conservationists believe that the turtles could have been killed by fishermen who discovered the marine creatures caught in their nets.

There was also a possibility that the turtles could have been slaughtered by those seaweed farmers after catching the animals feeding on their produce.

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Indonesia: President Joko Appoints Conservationist as New Peat Restoration Agency Head

Novy Lumanauw Jakarta Globe 20 Jan 16;

Jakarta. President Joko Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla on Wednesday inaugurated Nazir Foead, conservation director at the World Wildlife Fund, as head of the newly established Peat Restoration Agency, known as BRG.

“To me, Nazir Foead has the competencies and experiences in restoring the forests and peat lands, especially the skills to coordinate with the [related] ministries, [local] agencies and international agency networks,” Joko said ahead of the inauguration last week.

The BRG is tasked with restoring peat lands in Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, Papua and across all of Kalimantan which have been affected by last year's disastrous forest and land fires. Hundreds of thousands of hectares of forests and peat lands were destroyed.

As a non-structural agency reporting directly to the president, the BRG will be responsbile for coordinating and reinforcing policies relating to peat restoration and cooperation among authorities to restore the areas. It has also been assigned to map and establish protection zones and provide training and the tools required to mitigate future fire seasons. Empowering local communities to end slash-and-burn practices is among the highest priority for the agency.

Nazir will be joined by a secretary-general and four deputies, alongside a technical team of senior officials from provincial government and related agencies and ministries. Nazir will also call on experts from universities and research groups.

BRG will work on the project until the end of 2020.

Indonesia lost over two million hectares of forest and peat lands last year between June and October during the crisis, National Space and Aviation Agency (Lapan) data has shown, causing massive economic losses, productivity issues and scores of health problems.

Joko has cracked down on the practice in an effort to stop the seasonal fires from recurring this year. On Tuesday he threatened fire, police and military officials with sanctions should the fail to prevent and mitigate similar problems in 2016.

Joko Vows Zero Tolerance for Police, Military Officials Who Fail to Prevent Forest Fires
Jakarta Globe 19 Jan 16;

Jakarta. President Joko Widodo has threatened the jobs of police and military officials if they fail to prevent forest and land fires for recurring this year and calling for stricter enforcement of slash-and-burn laws and more effective prevention methods.

“I have coordinated with the National Police chief [Gen. Badrodin Haiti] and the Indonesian Military commander [Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo] to implement the reward and punishment system. If there are a lot of forest and land fire cases, dismiss and replace [officials]. Conversely, those with good performances will be promoted,” the President said on Monday, as quoted by Tempo.co.

Joko advocated coordination and cooperation among police and military officials with the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) and the Ministry of Environmental Affairs and Forestry to stop the fires from occurring this year.

“The BNPB does not have any troops but the National Police and the military do. The regional military commanders, regional police chiefs, military resort commands, district police chiefs, everyone has to be deployed," he said.

"You have to make actual visits to the fields, don't just sit behind your desks."

Regional leaders, such as governors, mayors and district heads, must also play a role in mitigating forest fires, mainly through financing and assisting in the logistical and technical support for volunteers and officials, the President said.

Hundreds of thousands of residents in Sumatra and Kalimantan — and neigboring Malaysia and Singapore — were blanketed in thick haze for months last year, caused by forest fires in the two Indonesian islands. Tens of thousands were treated for respiratory illnesses and eye infections.

Indonesia lost over two million hectares of forest area during last year's fire crisis, data published by the National Space and Aviation Agency (Lapan) showed, causing massive economic losses and decreased productivity.

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Indonesia: Dengue fever outbreaks reported in many regions

Syamsul Huda M. Suhari, The Jakarta Post 20 Jan 16;

Dengue fever cases have been reported in many regions across the country with hospitals reportedly overwhelmed by patients.

Management of the Aloei Saboe General Hospital, the only reference hospital in Gorontalo province, confirmed there had been a substantial rise in the number of dengue hemorrhagic fever patient cases.

Hospital director Dr. Andang Ilato confirmed the rise in the number of dengue fever cases since December last year, although it has not yet been categorized as an extraordinary occurrence (KLB).

“Patients from every regency have been referred here for various reasons, such as a lack of clinical and hospital capacity in the regencies, so we’ve been overwhelmed with patients,” said Andang.

Currently, he said, the hospital was only equipped with 350 in-patient beds, but the number of patients stood at 450, 20 percent above capacity. “We’re still treating them, but not in in-patient wards, but in the hospital corridors,” said Andang.

The hospital recorded 105 patients positively infected by dengue fever, seven of them suffering from Dengue Shock Syndrome (DSS) due to hemorrhaging who are currently undergoing intensive treatment.

Regarding the supply of medicine, despite depletion, he stressed the hospital had sufficient stock until the end of January.

Despite being treated in a hospital corridor, the relative of one patient praised the hospital’s services. “We are resigned to the fact that the wards are completely full,” said Husin Hadji whose granddaughter Pratiwi, 10, had been treated in a corridor reserved for children for the past three days.

Head of Gorontalo’s Indonesia Ombudsman representative office Alim S. Niode said that based on observation, there had been a number of findings of a lack of public services. “The Ombudsman has found Gorontalo City Health Office is still weak in coordinating efforts to prevent the spread of dengue fever, while community health clinics [puskesmas] are ineffective at running their functions,” Alim said on Tuesday.

Besides that, he said, the district and village administrations had not been optimal in providing information to the public on the importance of environmental hygiene.

In East Nusa Tenggara, the Kupang City Health Office is currently focusing on fumigating a number of locations in the provincial capital currently facing a dengue fever outbreak.

“Based on an epidemiology field survey, the health office has taken measures to focus on fumigation,” said Kupang City Health Office healthcare division head Sri Wahyuningsih as quoted by Antara on Monday.

Sri said nine dengue fever patients were currently in intensive care at the hospital. She added that the number had risen compared to earlier this month when five cases were recorded.

In Banten, the number of dengue fever patients getting treatment at hospitals and puskesmas in Lebak regency stood at 32 as of Sunday.

“We urge residents to be alert to the spread of dengue fever, keeping in mind the current rainy season during which the aedes aegypti mosquito can multiply,” said head of Lebak Health Office’s Contagious Disease Prevention and Environmental Health Affairs Firman Rahmatullah in Lebak on Sunday.

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Plastic to outweigh fish in oceans, says report

Sydney Morning Herald 20 Jan 16;

The world's oceans will contain more plastics than fish by 2050 as plastic – mostly packaging – enters the seas at the rate of one garbage truck-load a minute, a new report has warned.

Massive volumes of plastic packaging are being thrown away after one use, the report by the World Economic Forum has found. Only 14 per cent of plastic packaging is collected for recycling.

The report says eight million tonnes of plastic end up in the ocean every year – the equivalent of one garbage truck-load of waste every minute.

"If no action is taken, this is expected to increase to two per minute by 2030 and four per minute by 2050. Estimates suggest that plastic packaging represents the major share of this leakage," the report says.

The report estimates that by 2025 there will be one tonne of plastics for every three tonnes of fish, and by 2050 the oceans will contain more plastics than fish by weight.

Plastics have become an essential part of the global economy and production has surged from 15 million tonnes a year in 1964 to 311 million tonnes in 2014. The report estimates that will double in the next 20 years.

The report, titled The New Plastics Economy: Rethinking the future of plastics, calls for a new approach to the production, use and life cycle of plastics.

The authors note that plastics deliver massive economic benefits through increased productivity, longer food shelf life, lighter products and less fuel consumption.

However, they have increasingly apparent drawbacks, including accounting for a growing proportion of global oil consumption because most plastics are sourced from virgin fossil fuel feedstocks.

Apart from the enormous environmental impact, plastic waste is a huge cost to the global economy, with the WEF finding 95 per cent of the value of plastic packaging is lost after one short use and materials worth $80 billion to $120 billion are lost to the economy each year.

"A staggering 32 per cent of plastic packaging escapes collection systems, generating significant economic costs by reducing the productivity of vital natural systems such as the ocean and clogging urban infrastructure," the report says.

The report warns the costs of these after-use impacts plus greenhouse gas emissions add up to $40 billion a year – more than the profit pool of the packaging industry.

"In future, these costs will have to be covered," it says.

AAP

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