R

egarding the government'€™s tough measures on fire starters, state-owned electricity firm PLN also promised recently there would be no more blackouts.

So next year and the years to follow we will hear the same promises concerning forest fires.

I believe this is the end of this saga for the year. The smoke has largely disappeared. The sky is now bright grey. President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo will come tomorrow and rightly claim credit for his '€œleadership'€ in battling these recent fires.

According to Forestry and Environment Minister Siti Nurbaya, land and forest fires in Riau this year have been far fewer than in previous years, and the smoke currently blanketing Riau is largely from fires in Jambi and South Sumatra.

Could Siti please tell us where the smoke comes from which is blanketing Medan, to the point that nearly all schools have to cancel sports lessons. Burning eyes and even inside my house I can smell burned wet wood.

We are listening to a long-playing record which plays the same tune over and over again. The minister in charge knows how the fires start and '€œstill wishes to make a proper study or run the risk of affecting people'€™s livelihoods'€.

Even before she became a minister, she would have known what, when, where and how the fires are started and to say that people'€™s livelihoods are affected is absolutely unproductive talk.

I beg of you: Please think of those people who are adversely affected by the smoke or haze which they are breathing every second of the day '€” they (the young and old) need care and attention. In my opinion, for the culprits '€” if found guilty '€” I can only suggest one thing and that is fine them heavily and confiscate their land assets.

Luwanto
Jakarta