[Kabar-indonesia] Indonesia Fires Rage as Haze Continues [3 updates]

[Joyo at aol.com]

also: Indonesia's Brush-Fire Haze Continues; and
Malaysia Urges Indonesia To Take Action On Smoke Haze

Indonesia fires rage, wind helps clear Singapore air

JAKARTA, Oct. 8 (Reuters) - Forest fires were still raging across Indonesia 
on Sunday, with visibility cut to as low as 30 metres in parts of Borneo 
island, forcing cars to use headlights and throwing air travel into chaos. 

The fires concentrated on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra are a regular 
occurrence in the dry season but appear to have worsened this year with more 
fires on highly flammable peatland and amid a hot spell ahead of the start of 
rains due this month. 

Thick haze blowing across from Sumatra prompted Singapore to post a health 
advisory on Saturday, warning people to scale back vigorous outdoor activity. 

The situation was slightly better on Sunday, with Singapore's three-hour 
average Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) down as low as 27, after hitting a 
nine-year high of 150 on Saturday, the National Environment Agency's Web site 
(www.nea.gov.sg) showed. 

A spokeswoman at the agency said that south-southeasterly winds had blown 
some of the haze away from Singapore, but warned that it could only be a 
temporary shift. 

"We expect that later in the afternoon it could shift in a 
south-southwesterly direction again," she said. 

In the town of Palangkaraya in Indonesia's Central Kalimantan province on 
Borneo, visibility fell as low as 30-50 metres, according to El Shinta radio. 

Cars used headlights to avoid accidents, while flights were delayed by 
four-five hours at the town's airport of Cilik Riwut. 

The Antara state news agency said the air pollution index in the town was at 
the "dangerous" level and people were having to wear protective face masks 
even in their homes. 

Fires were also still raging in the Sebangau National Park in the province.
     
INDONESIAN TASK FORCE

A task force of Indonesian officials arrived in Kalimantan on Sunday to 
assess the situation. 

Purwasto, head of forest fire control at Indonesia's environment ministry, 
told Reuters en route to Palangkaraya that the team would look at the situation 
for one or two days. 

In Sumatra, haze stopped boats carrying food staples to remote parts of the 
province from navigating the Musi river, with visibility cut to 200 metres, 
Metro TV reported. 

Thousands of Muslims gathered in an open field on Bangka island, off Sumatra, 
to pray for rain, Antara reported. 

This year's haze has rekindled memories of the smog that choked large areas 
of Southeast Asia in 1997-98, making many sick and costing local economies 
billions of dollars. The fires over that period were estimated to have destroyed 
five million hectares (12 million acres) -- an area equivalent to Costa Rica. 

In Malaysia, several areas in southern Johor state near Singapore were still 
recording unhealthy pollution levels on Sunday, while the situation in other 
areas was better. 

Thailand also reported light smoke in southern parts of the country and the 
governnment-run Thai News Agency said masks were given to people in Satun 
province. 

FRUSTRATED NEIGHBOURS 

Malaysian Plantation Industries and Commodities' Minister Peter Chin said the 
government would not protect any local plantation firms involved in open 
burning in Indonesia. 

Timber and oil palm plantation companies are accused of lighting fires to 
clear land for planting. 

Farmers, too, use slash-and-burn methods, a traditional practice magnified by 
a growing population, demand for land and vast areas of forest that have been 
cleared in recent decades. 

It is illegal to carry out slash-and-burn land clearing in Indonesia, but 
prosecutions take time and few have stuck. 

Indonesian presidential spokesman, Andi Malarangeng, told Antara the country 
had taken the right steps to quell the fires, but said it was tough to contain 
fires in remote areas and it would welcome cooperation with neighbouring 
countries. 

Indonesia's neighbours have been sounding increasingly frustrated over a 
situation that Jakarta has long vowed to fix. 

Singapore's Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong was quoted as saying by Channel 
News Asia that the island state would register its concerns with Indonesia's 
foreign ministry. 

"I just hope that next year, the Indonesians will understand our concerns and 
do something about the haze, or do something about the fire before it is 
started by farmers and plantation owners", Goh said. 

(Additional reporting by Ade Mardiyati in JAKARTA, Mia Shanley in SINGAPORE, 
Syed Azmin in KUALA LUMPUR and Orathai Sriring in BANGKOK) 
     
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Associated Press
October 8, 2006

Indonesia's Brush-Fire Haze Continues

Smoke from brush fires forced officials to cancel flights and drivers to use 
their headlights in the daytime Sunday in western Indonesia, while the air 
quality improved in neighboring Singapore and Malaysia. 

The illegal brush fires were started by farmers or agricultural companies on 
Borneo and Sumatra islands as a cheap way of clearing the land. 

The haze is a perennial problem for the region. The worst case occurred in 
1997-98, when smoke from land-clearing in Sumatra blanketed much of the region 
and was blamed for losses of nearly $9 billion in tourism, health and business. 

Visibility was down to 160 feet Sunday in Indonesia's part of Borneo island. 
Flights were canceled in the three provinces of South Sumatra, Riau and Jambi. 

"We had to cancel all flights to avoid plane crashes and for passenger 
safety," Basuki Mardianto, the head of Sultan Taha Airport of Jambi province, told 
The Associated Press. 

The pollution monitoring index, measured in downtown Palangka Raya, the 
capital of Central Kalimantan province, stood at "dangerous" as thick smoke 
penetrated windows and doors, forcing people to wear masks inside, the Antara state 
news agency reported. One official said highly flammable peat soil blazes in 
the region were out of control and had worsened the air quality. 
 
In Singapore, the National Environment Agency reported an air pollution 
reading 
of 34, which it rates as "good," Sunday after it soared into the "unhealthy" 
range Saturday when the index was at a nine-year-high reading of 150. 

In Malaysia, the air was also less polluted, the Department of Environment 
said, with six of the country's 51 monitoring stations recording unhealthy air 
quality, compared to 21 on Saturday. 

Malaysia urged Indonesia to quickly ratify an agreement that would facilitate 
a regional response across Southeast Asia to the use of environment-damaging 
slash-and-burn methods by Indonesian farmers and plantation owners. 

Indonesia is the only country among the 10-member Association of Southeast 
Asian Nations that has not ratified the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze 
Pollution, which was approved in 2002. 

Malaysian Environment Minister Azmi Khalid called on Indonesia to prosecute 
any plantation company or farmers found responsible for lighting brush fires. 
"We implore Indonesia to impose the most severe penalties under their law to 
anyone found guilty," he said. 

Associated Press Writer Niniek Karmini contributed to this report. 

---------------------------------

Malaysia Urges Indonesia To Take Action On Smoke Haze

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct. 8 (AP)--Malaysia urged Indonesia to quickly ratify an 
agreement that would facilitate a regional response to smokey haze in Southeast 
Asia caused by brush fires on the sprawling archipelago, a news report said 
Sunday. 

Indonesia is the only country among the 10 member-Association of Southeast 
Asian Nations that hasn't ratified the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze 
Pollution, which the grouping approved in 2002. 

The agreement would result in the establishment of a regional coordinating 
center, which could react quickly to the haze caused mostly by farmers and 
plantation owners in Indonesia who practice slash-and-burn agricultural methods. 

Severe haze has blanketed both countries as well as in Singapore in recent 
days, sending air pollution indexes to unhealthy levels in some areas. 

"Only when Indonesia ratifies this agreement can member countries set up 
(the) center so that prevention and extinguishing of fires can be done easily," 
Malaysian Environment Minister Azmi Khalid told the Sunday Star newspaper. 

Azmi said Malaysia doesn't know why Indonesia was "dragging its feet" over 
the agreement. 

Azmi urged Indonesia to prosecute any plantation company or farmers found 
responsible for lighting brush fires. "We implore Indonesia to impose the most 
severe penalties under their law to anyone found guilty," he said. 

Environment Ministry officials could not be reached Sunday for comment. 

According to the Department of Environment, the haze worsened Saturday with 
many parts of Malaysia recording unhealthy air quality, but the situation 
improved slightly in the evening. The official Air Pollutant Index readings for 
Sunday were not immediately available. 

ASEAN includes Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, 
Thailand and Vietnam, Indonesia, and Malaysia. 

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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