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.
Hot spots spread, regions on alert
Into the flames: Firefighters battle a peatland fire in Ogan Ilir, South Sumatra, as the dry season continues across the country
Change Size
I
nto the flames: Firefighters battle a peatland fire in Ogan Ilir, South Sumatra, as the dry season continues across the country. Indonesian authorities are deploying thousands of extra personnel to prevent a repeat of the 2015 fires, which were the worst the region had seen in two decades and choked neighboring countries Singapore and Malaysia with thick haze. (AFP/Abdul Qodir)
Authorities have reported a sharp increase in hot spots in Kalimantan and Sumatra in the past few days, raising concerns about a possible repeat of the 2015 haze crisis that badly affected the islands, as well Singapore and Malaysia.
“If we fail to address the forest fires soon, we are likely to see the 2015 haze crisis happening again,” National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesperson Agus Wibowo said.
He said this year’s dry season would be exceptionally long and it would exacerbate the impact of forest fires.
The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has predicted that the rainy season will not start until October.The number of hot spots in several areas across Sumatra and Kalimantan has continued to increase.
The BMKG reported that hot spots were emerging, not only in Indonesia but also several other countries in Southeast Asia, including Malaysia, Singapore, Timor Leste and Papua New Guinea.
Last week, before his visit to Singapore and Malaysia, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo stated that he was embarrassed to visit the two countries, where the issue of haze had made headlines. “I was sometimes embarrassed. This week I plan to visit Malaysia and Singapore. But just last week, haze was a headline,” Jokowi said last week.
The number of hot spots had increased to 2,002 on Friday from 1,586 on Aug. 7 and 1,025 on Aug. 3. The hot spots were largely detected in the provinces of Riau, West Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan.
In Riau alone, the Terra and Aqua satellites detected 156 hot spots on Monday, a sharp increase from only eight the day before. Residents in Riau’s capital Pekanbaru even performed their Idul Adha prayers on Sunday as thick haze blanketed them.
Agus added that haze had reached the neighboring Malaysian state of Sarawak.
The BNPB was hoping local administrations would contribute more to stopping the spread of hot spots, which were likely to emerge from rampant slash and burn practices carried out to open new plantation areas.
From Jakarta, Agus said, the BNPB had deployed 9,000 personnel from the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police to six regions, namely Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan and South Kalimantan, to prevent any slash and burn practices.
The agency has also deployed 34 water-bombing helicopters to help extinguish the fires from above while waiting for the rainy season to come.
“The dry season has caused plants to be flammable,” BMKG meteorology deputy head Mulyono R. Prabowo said.
The BMKG reported the long dry season was a result of “a negative anomaly of the country’s sea surface temperature”.
The fires have created a thick haze, affecting visibility and causing respiratory problems among residents.
The Pontianak administration in West Kalimantan was even mulling over a plan to temporarily dismiss school activities if the haze became thicker and uncontrollable, Antara news agency reported.
The 2015 haze crisis had severely affected education, with many regions in the country closing schools for weeks. Among the regions were Riau, Jambi and Kalimantan. Thousands of schools were also reportedly shut down temporarily in Malaysia following the haze crisis.
The Riau administration has specifically asked the province’s Muslim residents to pray for rain. Riau Governor Syamsuar believed that “only rain could extinguish spreading forest fires in the province”.
He claimed that all measures had been taken to address the problem, including mobilizing water-bombing helicopters to make artificial rain, but such efforts had made little progress.
Local administrations proceeded to deal with alleged perpetrators behind the fires, including small to large scale plantation firms.
West Kalimantan Governor Sutarmidji summoned dozens of plantation companies operating in the province to his office on Monday. He wanted to hear the companies’ explanations about the ongoing fires in their respective concession areas.
A company in East Kalimantan, PT Borneo Indah Marjaya, has worked with residents to prevent and put out forest fires in Tanjung Harapan district in Paser regency. “We work hand-in-hand with villagers from Laburan, Lori, Sungai Langir, Perpat and Sungai Batu villages to address the fires,” said the team leader, Ibnu.
