TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Dumai declares emergency alert as air quality worsens
The administration of Dumai, Riau, has imposed a haze-emergency status as the air quality in the municipality continues to get worse
Change Size
The administration of Dumai, Riau, has imposed a haze-emergency status as the air quality in the municipality continues to get worse.
Dumai Disaster Mitigation Agency head Afrilagan said the air quality in the city reached dangerous levels on Wednesday morning.
According to data collected by a PT Chevron Pasific Indonesia air pollution measurement device at 2 a.m. on Friday, the Pollutant Standards Index was at 300, the top end of “very unhealthy”.
It had decreased from 367 on Wednesday, which was in the “hazardous” range, but it was still considered at a dangerous level. A thin smog from forest fires still shrouded the air.
“We’ve been distributing face masks,” Afrilagan said on Friday.
Responding to the situation, the local administration and other relevant government agencies at the provincial level held a coordination meeting and decided to impose a haze-emergency alert status until May 31. They could extend the status if the conditions do not get better.
The haze covering Dumai was suspected to have come from Rupat Island in Bengkalis regency where numerous hot spots were detected in the last three days, according to Afrilagan.
Wind carried smoke and ash from the land and forest fires to Sumatra.
According to the Meteorology Climatology and Geophysics Agency, 10 hot spots were detected in Rupat.
Quoting data from the Environment and Forestry Ministry’s monitoring system, Afrilagan said more than 80 hectares were burning in Rupat and firefighters were currently trying to put out the blaze.
“The haze has caused visibility in Dumai to decrease to between 5 and 7 kilometers,” he said.
With the alert status, according to Afrilagan, the authorities are more easily able to take measures to prevent the fires from spreading.
“With the status, we can use funds allocated in the regional budget to prevent and mitigate land and forest fires, as well as haze,” he said.
In Dumai, land fires have so far covered 29 ha. The latest started in Bangsal Aceh and Lubuk Gaung subdistricts a few days ago.
The figure is far below those of previous years. The city recorded that 259 ha burned in 2015, 368 ha the following year, 64 ha in 2017 and 399.25 ha last year.
“The task force will continue anticipating land and forest fires,” said Afrilagan, adding that they had extinguished all the fires and were currently cooling down the area to prevent them from catching on fire again.
Environmental group Greenpeace Indonesia said the country would never eliminate forest fires because of the inadequate judicial process applied to violators of the law.
Greenpeace analyzed 11 cases from 2012 to 2018, in which the government stated that compensation was owed by 11 companies found guilty of causing forest fires and illegal logging. The courts have ordered the companies to pay a total of almost Rp 18.9 trillion (US$1.3 billion) in compensation, but the rulings have never been enforced.
“As citizens, if we don’t pay our taxes we get sent to prison. So why aren’t the owners of these big companies being forced to pay what they owe or sent to prison if they don’t pay?” asked Arie Rompas, the team leader with Greenpeace’s Indonesian forests campaign.
“This is money owed to the Indonesian people. By not forcing these companies to pay, the government is sending a dangerous message: Company profit comes before law, clean air, health and forest protection.”
