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Text your say: Forest fires return to Riau
Your comments on the forest fires that have hit Riau again in less than three months, sparking thick haze that forced students in Pelalawan regency to suspend their school activities:We know that Indonesia is not the only country experiencing forest fires every year
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our comments on the forest fires that have hit Riau again in less than three months, sparking thick haze that forced students in Pelalawan regency to suspend their school activities:
We know that Indonesia is not the only country experiencing forest fires every year. However, we may think about having some ministries work together to find the best formula to avoid the adverse impact of the fires on people's lives.
Arkan Zeroun Hadiana
Bekasi
Integration between science education and native culture is all that we need. I am sure the fires would not have happened had the people understood the impact on them.
John Jatmiko
How can you say nothing can be done, then quote the law to stop open burning?
How can you imply its poor farmers rather than rich corporations? Why do you not name them and demand full lawful action against them?
Why do you not demand that all action is taken to douse the fires and that the owners foot the full bill, not the people?
Grey Lensman
It is very remarkable to read that, again, small farmers are always blamed for the forest fires.
Local farmers know very well how to control fires. Most large fires first occur in concession areas that need to be cleaned.
Slash-and-burn farmers have repeatedly been blamed for causing forest fires (Gellert 1998: 66). Several studies on the 1996 fires, summarized in McCarthy (2000: 111-114), however, showed that most fires did not occur in the vicinities of local settlements, but in the concession areas of large logging companies and that they were often the result of logging activities or were started on purpose to clear vast tracts of land.
Blaming the poor for causing environmental problems, their culture for being an obstacle to progress and their ignorance as explanation for the lack of economic progress is a general response from elites and policymakers in Indonesia, which resonates into the present.
Is it probably aimed at diverting from their responsibility?
Gerben Nooteboom
Amsterdam
Topic of the day Djoko's punishment
The Jakarta Corruption Court has sentenced former National Police Traffic Corps chief Insp. Gen. Djoko Susilo to 10 years in prison for graft and seized assets worth Rp 120 billion (US$12 million) from him. Is the sentence sufficient?
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