Jakarta Globe, Mar 16, 2014
An Indonesian motorbike rider dives on a hazy street in Pekan Baru, Riau on March 14, 2014. (EPA Photo) |
Pekanbaru.
The chief of the National Police has sent a strong warning to anyone caught
illegally slashing and burning land in Riau: stop immediately or risk being
shot for resisting arrest.
“If anyone
fights back and endangers [officers or others], just shoot them,” National
Police chief Gen. Sutarman said in Pekanbaru on Saturday.
He said the
same policy should be applied to security or government officers allegedly
involved in land burning.
“Shoot them
as well,” Sutarman said according to Indonesian news portal republika.co.id.
He added
that police have so far named 60 suspects for allegedly igniting fires in Riau.
Most of the
suspects have been identified as local farmers. One plantation firm — National
Sago Prima, a subsidiary of publicly-listed Sampoerna Agro — was also named a
suspect, however.
Riau Police
chief Brig. Gen. Condro Kirono, meanwhile, said his office had formed a special
team consisting of 558 officers tasked exclusively with hunting down those
responsible for setting land and forest fires in Riau.
The resulting
haze from the fires has disrupted flights and has caused tens of thousands of
local residents to suffer from respiratory illnesses.
The haze
has also spread to neighboring provinces such as Jambi and West Sumatra. Jambi
on Saturday reported nearly 56,000 of its residents also suffered from
respiratory illnesses, kompas.com reported.
Condro said
the team involved different organizations, including the Indonesian Military
(TNI) as well as forest rangers, and was split up into nine smaller groups.
Five of the groups have been sent to Bengkalis district and four to Pelalawan
district.
“[The
Pelalawan teams] will focus on Meranti Bay, which borders the Kerumutan
Wildlife Conservation,” Condro said. “There have been lot of hotspots likely
caused by illegal logging [there].”
The
Bengkalis teams, meanwhile, will concentrate on the Giam Siak Kecil Biosphere
Reserve in the subdistrict of Bukit Batu. “The Bengkalis teams can also cross
to Rupat island, where there are a lot of hotspots.”
Police made
these statements as President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono landed in Pekanbaru on
Saturday to inspect the situation.
Upon
arriving in Pekanbaru, the president and his entourage took a road trip to
Rimbo Panjang village in Kampar district to see firsthand the remnants of the
burnt lands. On Sunday, after a meeting with Riau Governor Annas Maamum, the
president was scheduled to take another trip 120 km away to Siak district,
which is among the regions worst hit by the fires.
“It’s
better that we listen to the residents’ stories — of what our brothers have
seen and witnessed, of their hopes,” Yudhoyono said in Pekanbaru on Sunday according to the president’s official website. “Proper solutions will usually arise after we hear all of [the
stories].”
The
President, irritated by local officials’ slow response to the fire and haze
issues, on Friday said he would take over and lead emergency measures himself
if local officials and cabinet ministers continued to fail to address the
problems.
Yudhoyono
announced three emergency measures to handle the Riau fires: extinguish them as
soon as possible, provide health treatment for affected residents and bolster
law enforcement in affected areas. This despite the fact that the governor of
Riau had already declared a state of emergency in the province last month.
The
“Integrated Emergency Operation” initiated by the president will take place for
three weeks, the president said.
Facts on
the ground
On Sunday,
citing satellite images, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB)
reported 171 hotspots in Riau, with Siak district reporting the most hotspots
(78), followed by Indragiri Hilir (32) and Meranti (28).
“Officers
have put out fires across 15,837 hectares of lands, from a total of 19,538 hectares
burned,” the BNPB said. “Yesterday, air officers successfully dropped 60 water
bombs on Giam Siak Kecil.”
The
Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) reported visibility of 2
km at 6 a.m. on Sunday, marking a significant improvement from when visibility
was less than 300 meters during the height of the crisis.
The agency
also forecast light to heavy rains in Riau over the next two days, as well as
showers until April, heightening hopes that fires and the haze could be further
reduced.
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