Jakarta Globe, Apr 01, 2014
Jakarta. The number of hotspots detected in the troubled Indonesian province of Riau fell to zero over the weekend after forest fires burned intermittently for some two months, Indonesian officials said on Tuesday, as they announced plans to recall some 1,000 military personnel sent to combat the region’s annual haze-causing fires.
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| An Indonesian motorbike rider dives on a hazy street in Pekanbaru, Riau on March 14, 2014. (EPA Photo) |
Jakarta. The number of hotspots detected in the troubled Indonesian province of Riau fell to zero over the weekend after forest fires burned intermittently for some two months, Indonesian officials said on Tuesday, as they announced plans to recall some 1,000 military personnel sent to combat the region’s annual haze-causing fires.
“The
hotspots in Riau have continued to disappear,” National Disaster Mitigation
Agency (BNPB) spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said in a press statement released
on Tuesday. “On Sunday there were ZERO hotspots and from Monday to today there
is only one more hotspot.”
The
announcement was the first sign of hope since the forest fires re-emerged after
a brief reprieve, surging to 777 hotspots by Friday and prompting stern action
from local law enforcement. More than 100 people and one company, National Sago
Prima — a subsidiary of Sampoerna Agro, have been implicated in this year’s
forest fires to date. The fires, and the ensuing haze, have cost the province
some Rp 10 trillion ($890 million) in
losses by the start of March, according to the state-run Antara News Agency.
While the
haze from this year’s forest fires failed to reach neighboring Singapore and
Malaysia in a significant way, air quality in Sumatra fell to hazardous levels,
prompting the local government to declare a state of emergency as flights were
diverted, more than 100,000 fell ill and three died, according to reports in
local media.
The men, a
villager named Muhammad Adli, 63, and a Surya Damai Agrindo plantation worker
named Muslim, 30, were reported dead by the Indonesian news portal Okezone.com.
According to the report, Aldi suffered fatal injuries after falling into
burning peatland while Muslim died as he attempted to combat the forest fires
as flames closed-in on the company’s plantations.
A third
still unidentified man died of asthma-related symptoms, Sutopo told the Jakarta
Globe. The elderly man was reportedly ill long before the fires began to burn,
he said.
“The victim
died due to old age and because he had been ill from the beginning,” Sutopo
told the Jakarta Globe.
By Tuesday
the conditions in Riau showed signs of returning to normal. The air quality was
getting better and operations at Pekanbaru’s Sultan Syarif Kasim II
International Airport have resumed normal operations.
“The air
quality ranges from healthy to moderate on Tuesday,” Sutopo said. “There are no
more [regions in Riau reporting] ‘unhealthy’ or ‘dangerous’ levels [of air pollutants].”
The
government will now start to wind down its Integrated Operation Task Force — a
2,000-strong haze-reduction force that included members of the BNPB and the
Indonesian Military (TNI). All members of the task force sent to Riau will be
screened by health care officials before they return to regular rotation in
Jakarta.
“The
operations have been carried out well,” Sutopo said. “All the personnel
involved in the operation went all-out… All the personnel will have their
health conditions checked. They’ve been exposed to fires and haze for three
weeks.”
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