Jakarta, Sept 25 (Antara) - Indonesia faces a perennial annual problem
of forest and plantation fires, and this year, they started as early as
February in comparison to the previous years when they usually occurred
in the June-October dry season.
Wild
fires have been viewed as humanitarian and environmental disasters
since they destroy the flora and fauna, while the haze emanating from
them paralyzes transportation, affects businesses, prevents children
from attending schools, hinders education, and takes a toll on the
public health at large.
Recently, some 1,236 hotspots of forest and plantation fires were
detected in the six provinces of South Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan,
West Kalimantan, South Sumatra, Riau, and Jambi, spokesman of the
National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Sutopo Purwo Nugroho informed
the press on Sept. 19, 2014.
"Based
on the hotspots data obtained from the MODIS satellite on Tuesday
(Sept. 17), there were 1,236 hotspots, a decrease from 1,614 hotspots
recorded previously.
Of the 1,236 detected hotspots, 559 were found in Central Kalimantan,
252 in South Kalimantan, 195 in South Sumatra, 20 in Riau, and 17 in
Jambi.
On
the previous day, 665 hotspots were recorded in Central Kalimantan, 279
in South Kalimantan, 75 in West Kalimantan, 327 in South Sumatra, 164
in Riau, and 104 in Jambi.
"The
number of hotspots on Kalimantan Island is predicted to continue to
remain high during the dry season, which is expected to end in October
2014," he remarked.
The September-October period is considered to be the peak season for
hotspots, and therefore, the authorities should stay on alert and be
ready to immediately deal with possible forest fires, he added.
Joint teams comprising personnel from the forestry ministry, military,
police, and volunteers have worked in tandem to extinguish wild fires in
the affected provinces, particularly those located in Kalimantan
provinces.
The BNPB has allocated Rp350 billion to deal with land and forest fires
in Sumatra and Kalimantan Islands, reported the agency's spokesman.
A significant amount from the budget was spent on leasing airplanes and
helicopters that were deployed for water bombing and cloud seeding
operations to extinguish the raging forest and bush fires.
The Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) is
also carrying out cloud seeding operations until October to put out the
forest fires.
To
prevent the problem of wild fires from spiraling out of control, Vice
President Boediono led a coordinating meeting on forest fire mitigation
efforts in Palembang, South Sumatra, on Sept. 23, 2014.
"I ask the BNPB to prioritize the implementation of preventive
measures. It should take action before the fires flare up. This is the
most effective measure," emphasized the vice president.
The meeting discussed the current situation of forest fires that
produced haze in several provinces across Indonesia, including in South
Sumatra, Jambi, Riau, Central Kalimantan, and South Kalimantan.
BNPB
Head Syamsul Maarif shared the vice president's concern and laid
emphasis on the urgency to deal with the forest fire problem.
The agency is currently streamlining its efforts to handle forest fires in South Sumatra, Central Kalimantan, and Riau.
"Right
now, our focus is on handling the forest fires in those three
provinces, which are having the highest number of hotspots," the
agency's Acting Secretary Dody Ruswandi stated.
In
Sumatra's Riau province, which is among the worst-hit regions, the
material losses inflicted by forest and plantation fires during
February-April 2014 reached Rp20 trillion.
"Some 2,398 hectares of biosphere reserve and 21,914 hectares of
agricultural and plantation areas in Riau were gutted by the fires,"
Sutopo Purwo Nugroho earlier revealed.
The forest fires in Riau also affected the environment, health, business, and politics, he added.
The Riau government itself has allocated a budget of Rp10 billion to anticipate the effects of haze in the area.
"Thick haze originating from forest fires caused 58 thousand
inhabitants of Riau to suffer from respiratory problems and schools to
temporarily cease classroom activities," he noted.
He believed that 99 percent of forest fires in Riau were caused by
human intervention such as land clearing activities for creating new
farming and plantation areas.
The Riau police have arrested two people suspected of being involved in setting forest and land fires.
"The
two suspects were arrested after we received a report from the
Indragiri Hilir district police," spokesman of the Riau provincial
police Adj. Snr. Comr. Guntur Aryo Tejo recently noted in a brief text
message.
He
remarked that they were arrested during emergency response operations
launched in each district in the province to prevent haze disasters.
During the second phase of emergency response operations, which lasted
from April 5 to September 19, 2014, the provincial police have handled
70 cases of forest and land fires and identified 119 suspects.
Earlier, the Indonesian Police have instructed the regional police
throughout the country to investigate the forest fires occurring in
their respective regions.
"We
have instructed the provincial and resort police to investigate the
causes of forest fires," spokesman of the National Police Inspector
General Ronny Franky Sompie recently stated.
The local police, in coordination with the regional administrations,
have supervised and prevented the fires from occurring, he remarked.
A call for stringent punishment to be meted out to those arrested for
setting forest and plantation fires was recently voiced by Coordinating
People's Welfare Minister Agung Laksono.
"Law
enforcement should be carried out, and the police should severely
punish the perpetrators of forest and land fires," Laksono added.
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(f001/INE/ao14)
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(f001/INE/ao14)
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