FIGHT AGAINST FOREST FIRES INTENSIFIED AS HAZE ENGULFS MALAYSIA, SINGAPORE by Fardah

Jakarta, Sept 16, 2015 (Antara) - A thick haze that followed the forest and plantation fires on the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan has not only been chocking local inhabitants, but also the citizens of Malaysia and Singapore, over the past two weeks.   
   The cycle of fires, followed by haze, has become almost an annual occurrence.

         Some 1,887 hotspots--575 in Sumatra and 1,312 in Kalimantan--had been detected through the Terra and Aqua Satellites by Sept. 11 afternoon.

         People living in the haze-impacted regions in the three neighboring countries have been advised to avoid outdoor activities.

        In Indonesia and Malaysia, schools have been temporarily closed as haze has reached hazardous level.

         Malaysia began cloud-seeding operations to try to induce rain to clear the air after a layer of heavy haze hung in the atmosphere on Sept. 15.

        Indonesia's Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) is dispatching a total of 2,909 military and police personnel in stages to help put out the fires on those two islands, the agency's spokesman, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, said on Sept. 15.

         In Sumatra's Riau Province, the worst hit by haze, the Indonesian Military (TNI) deployed 1,250 soldiers after President Joko Widodo declared a state of emergency.

        Earlier, on Sept. 11, some 1,059 military personnel were deployed in South Sumatra, which had also been hit by wildfires.

         Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Luhut Panjaitan has instructed security officers to strongly enforce the law against those who perpetrated the fires, believed to have been caused by slash-and-burn mode of land clearance.

        Chairing a meeting of the Task Force to Control Emergency Operations against Forest and Plantation Fires, the minister said, "There must be no hesitation in bringing to book the perpetrators of forest and plantation fires."
  Luhut Panjaitan said forest fires that led to haze clouds blowing to the neighboring countries, have raised concerns about the dignity of the Indonesian nation since it reflects poorly on the government's competence to tackle the fires.

         Weather analyst of Riau's meteorological office, Ardhito, had earlier warned the government to take anticipatory measures to tackle the problem as haze was affecting areas in Malaysia and Singapore.

         "The visibility in Kuala Lumpur has been reduced to one thousand meters, and is becoming worse," Ardhito said on Sept. 14. Such a low level of visibility usually affects air and sea transport operations, he pointed out.

          Haze affected Singapore because the wind blew from the southeast to south and then drifted in the northeast direction towards Malaysia, taking haze clouds to Pekanbaru.

         The only way to end the menace of haze is by extinguishing the fires, Ardhito added.

        In the meantime, German news agency DPA reported that Malaysia's maritime and aviation departments had on Sept 13. issued warnings about poor visibility caused by the worsening haze in the capital and elsewhere.

         At least two international flights were diverted during the past two days due to poor visibility, Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai stated.

         He added that some maritime activities would be suspended if visibility dropped below one nautical mile, or 1.8 kilometers, but did not specify what all would be affected.

         Indonesia's environmental expert Laode Muhammad Syarif said countries impacted by pollution as a result of natural resource exploitation can sue polluter countries based on international laws.

         "From the aspect of international law, the country whose land continues to burn faces the risk of being sued. The victimized country can sue the polluter state," Syarif, from the Makassar-based University of Hasanuddin, said during a recent discussion on enforcement of environmental law, titled, "Cutting the cycle of land and forest fires."
   He said from an international viewpoint, the only way Indonesia could acknowledge its mistake was by offering an apology.

        Furthermore, Singapore's Ambassador to Indonesia, Anil Kumar Nayar, stated in Bandung, West Java, on Sept. 15 that long-term solution is required to overcome the problem of haze arising from forest fires in Indonesia.

        "We must unite to overcome the problem of haze. We should find a long-term solution. The problem should be addressed properly," Nayar noted.

        According to the ambassador, haze is an environmental, economic, and health problem being faced by Indonesians.

         Singapore is ready to deploy an aircraft to extinguish the forest fires in Indonesia. "We have offered the aircraft and our expertise. Besides, this is not just for now," Nayar stated.

          In fact, ministers responsible for environment from Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, participating in the 17th  Meeting of the Sub-Regional Ministerial Steering Committee (MSC) on Transboundary Haze Pollution, held in Jakarta on July  28, 2015, warned that hotspot activities and transboundary smoke haze from land and forest fires in the region during the current dry season, are high due to the prevailing El Nino phenomenon.

         The MSC member states reaffirmed their offer to assist with emergency response efforts, should the situation warrant it.

           The ministers also welcomed Indonesia as a party to the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution with the country depositing the instrument of ratification of the Agreement with Secretary-General of ASEAN Le Luong Minh, on January 20, 2015.

         They commended Indonesia for its efforts and commitment to working with other AMS members to address the transboundary haze pollution issues under the framework of the Agreement.

         The meeting noted the continued efforts by Indonesia to finalize its respective Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) with Malaysia and Singapore to address the transboundary haze issue, building upon the previous successful experiences in bilateral cooperation in Riau and Jambi provinces.

         In this regard, Malaysia and Singapore look forward to finalizing their respective MOUs with Indonesia soon. ***2***
(F001/INE/a014)

(T.F001/A/BESSR/A. Abdussalam) 17-09-2015 00:04:03