INDONESIA WARNS AGAINST SETTING FOREST FIRES AS EL NINO DEVELOPS by Fardah

     Jakarta, May 24, 2014 (Antara) - Forest, plantation and peatland fires have hit Indonesia annually over the last couple of decades, causing a great deal of damage to the environment, businesses and local people's health.

         In Sumatra's Riau Province alone, forest and land fires occurring only between February and April 2014 caused economic losses worth more than Rp20 trillion (almost US$2 billion), according to data from the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB). 
    The BNPB has spent around Rp164 billion, or one-third of its budget, to deal with the forest, peatland and plantation fires nationally.

         The haze disaster triggered by the fires disrupted around 30 percent of the economic activity, particularly plane flights to and from Riau, and caused huge monetary losses in the province.

         Plantation companies were also affected by the fires. President Director of PT Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper Kusnan Rahmin said his company failed to achieve its targets of production and planting as a result of the fires. "The worst is the damage to our company's image internationally because although we did not start the fires, our company was named as one of the areas affected by the fires," he pointed out.

         The fires also caused environmental damage as more than 21.9 thousand hectares of forest and plantation areas were gutted by the fires. The haze affected the health of several residents in Riau and the neighboring provinces, such as in West and North Sumatra, and caused the disruption of normal activities such as schooling and trading.

         The largest loss caused by forest and land fires in Indonesia occurred in 1997, when fires wiped out millions of hectares of forest and plantation areas and caused losses worth US$2.45 billion.
    During 1997-1998, Indonesia experienced a prolonged drought induced by the strongest ever recorded El Niño, which triggered widespread fires.

         This year, Indonesia is expecting El Niño again. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) National Weather Service of the United States in its "ENSO Alert System Status: El Niño Watch" discussion issued on May 8, 2014, said the current atmospheric and oceanic conditions, which included above-average sea surface temperatures developing over much of the eastern tropical Pacific, collectively indicated a continued evolution toward El Niño.  
    "The model predictions of ENSO (El Niño Southern Oscillation) for this summer and beyond are indicating an increased likelihood of El Niño compared with those from last month," NOAA said in a statement earlier this month.
    Learning from the lessons of the El Niño-induced forest fires in 1997 and several other years, the government has been making preparations for anticipating El Niño phenomenon, predicted to develop between May and October 2014. If forest fires occur during the El Niño phenomenon, it could have serious repercussions since Indonesia would most likely experience an El Niño-induced drought.

         "We have to anticipate El Niño and enforce repressive measures against forest and plantation fire setters," Indonesian Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan said recently.  
    The government can no longer afford to be tolerant towards those setting fires every year; therefore, repressive action must be taken to deter the perpetrators, he reiterated.

         "The government must act firmly in preventing forest fires because the country is forecast to experience the El Niño phenomenon in June 2014," the minister noted during his visit to the Tello Nesso National Park in Riau Province on May 22, 2014.

         Forest fires have caused losses worth trillions of rupiah to the state and threatened the endemic flora and fauna. "Elephants, tigers, and other animals are on the brink of extinction due to the forest fires. The fire setters are very cruel," the minister pointed out.

         When visiting Riau Province on March 15, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered an immediate stop to slash-and-burn practices to clear land for farming or plantations as they produce a disturbing haze.

         "Riau can change and we shall change, starting today. I call upon the Riau people to develop a new culture and new ways to help Riau stay free from haze," the president stated.
    According to police investigations, the forest fires in the Riau province were due to deliberate actions by people who wanted to set up new plantations.  
    Therefore, Yudhoyono called for heavier penalties for those who deliberately lit the fires and stressed that the annual forest fires on Sumatra Island must be stopped permanently. "I do not want to burden the next government with the same problem," emphasized Yudhoyono, who will end his presidential term this year.

         Despite the president's instruction, forest and plantation fires have continued to occur, particularly in Riau, although the scale is relatively small.
    In the first week of May 2014, at least 16 hectares of forest were razed by fires in Riau Province, according to data from the regional disaster mitigation office (BPBD). Of the 16 hectares, 13 hectares were located in Dumai City, head of the BPBD Riau Said Saqlul Amri noted last week.

         To prevent further environmental destruction, the Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi) has been closely monitoring legal enforcement proceedings against a company suspected to have lit fires in forest and plantation areas in Meranti Island District.

         "We reported PT National Sago Prima (NSP), a subsidiary of Sampoerna, on February 21 for setting off forest and land fires in Meranti. This case is interesting because the investigators have named NSP as a suspect, but the provincial police have said it is not yet a suspect," Executive Director of Walhi Riau Riko Kurniawan remarked recently.

         Kurniawan considered the Riau provincial police to be slow in handling the case. He recollected that President Yudhoyono, during his visit to Riau in March 2014, had called for strict law enforcement against those setting fires in Riau.

         Therefore, legal enforcers should have been proactive in enforcing the law against the perpetrators in order to create a deterrent effect, the NGO activist pointed out.

         He suspected that the company had tried to slow down the legal process by not furnishing information in a timely manner. Around 500 hectares of the company's plantation area were razed by fire, which spread to the surrounding areas, including local farmers' sago plantations, thus affecting a total area of 1.2 thousand hectares.

         "We believe the company is guilty of negligence. The local farmers lost their earnings because their sago plantations were destroyed by the fire. Now, they could lose their income for 10 years," he claimed.

         The Riau Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) also called on law enforcers to tackle the fire cases on an urgent basis. According to Executive Director of the Riau Kadin Muhammad Herwan, strict legal enforcement must be in place to deter others from deliberately setting fires in the future. ***3***
(F001/INE/B003)
EDITED BY INE