Reaching
Out: An adviser to President Yudhoyono says countries such as Singapore and
Malaysia now have ‘legal ground’ to help
Jakarta Globe, Tunggadewa Mattangkilang & Vento Saudale, Oct 13, 2014
Balikpapan/Jakarta. Indonesia is inviting its Southeast Asian neighbors to help tackle forest fires and haze that are once again plaguing Sumatra and Kalimantan, following its ratification last month of a regional agreement allowing transboundary cooperation on haze pollution.
Residents cross the road amid haze in Banjar, South Kalimantan on Oct. 6, 2014. (Antara Photo/Murdy Herry Hermawan) |
Balikpapan/Jakarta. Indonesia is inviting its Southeast Asian neighbors to help tackle forest fires and haze that are once again plaguing Sumatra and Kalimantan, following its ratification last month of a regional agreement allowing transboundary cooperation on haze pollution.
Indonesia’s
National Disaster Mitigation Agency, or BNPB, reported more than 500 fire hot
spots in Sumatra and Kalimantan over the weekend, causing haze that forced at
least four airports to shut down and sent air pollution indices to hazardous
levels in several regions.
Agus
Purnomo, an adviser to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on climate change, said
that with the House of Representatives finally ratifying last month the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Agreement on Transboundary Haze
Pollution, countries like Singapore and Malaysia, which are often affected by
the haze, could now actively take part in measures to tackle the problem.
“The
agreement makes it easier for our neighbors to help us tackle fires and haze.
They now have a legal ground to help,” Agus told the Jakarta Globe on Sunday.
Parties to
the agreement, signed in 2002, are required to cooperate in measures to
mitigate transboundary haze pollution, as well as to respond promptly to “a
request for relevant information sought by a state or states that are or may be
affected” by such pollution in order to minimize the impacts.
The second
part in particular has been a sensitive issue for Indonesia, which is why it
was the last Asean member state to ratify the agreement, despite being the
prime generator of haze from forest fires in Southeast Asia.
The BNPB
said 153 hot spots were detected on Sumatra by satellites as of 5 a.m. on
Sunday, with 144 in South Sumatra province alone.
Kalimantan,
which barely reported any major fire and haze events last year, had a recorded
357 hot spots on Saturday, according to satellite imagery. Most of the hot
spots were concentrated in Central Kalimantan (220), followed by South
Kalimantan (61), East Kalimantan (50) and West Kalimantan (26).
Haze in Jambi, Sumatra on Oct. 10, 2014. (Antara PhotoWahdi Septiawan) |
“So the
figure may be bigger,” he said.
The BNPB
had not yet updated the data by press time on Sunday night.
Thick haze
forced the temporary closure of Sultan Aji Muhammad Sulaiman Airport in
Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, on Saturday.
“We had to
close down the airport because of the haze, the visibility was less than a
kilometer. The minimum visibility for aviation is 1.5 kilometers,” airport
spokesman Awaluddin told the Globe.
Awaluddin
said five flights were delayed and six flights were diverted to Hassanudin
Airport in Makassar, South Sulawesi.
“This is
the first time we’ve had to delay flights and divert planes since the haze first
hit Balikpapan,” he said. The airport, previously known as Sepinggan, resumed
operation later in the day.
On Sunday,
four other airports were shut down, this time in Sumatra: Sultan Syarif Kasim
II Airport in Pekanbaru, Riau; Hang Nadim Airport in Batam, Riau Islands;
Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II Airport in Palembang, South Sumatra; and Sultan
Thaha Syaifuddin Airport in Jambi.
“The
arrival schedules have been delayed, as currently the visibility is only 500
meters,” Baiquni Sudrajat, a spokesman for Sultan Syarif Kasim II International
Airport, told Detik.com on Sunday.
The haze
affected most flights to and from Pekanbaru on Sunday.
“Because
the arriving planes were delayed, the planes departing from this airport are
also delayed,” Baiquni said.
Air quality
also plunged in several regions worst hit by fire-induced haze, including Libo
village in the Riau capital of Pekanbaru, where the Pollutant Standard Index
reached 399, above the minimum hazardous level of 300.
Air quality
is considered “good” for a PSI reading of between 0 and 50, “moderate” for PSI
between 51-100, “unhealthy” for 101-200, “very unhealthy” for 201-300 and
“dangerous” for a PSI more than 300.
“In Rumbai,
the index reached 251; in Minas it was 176; in Duri the index was 136; in Dumai
148…” Sutopo said, citing PSI indices in a number of regions in Riau.
The
Balikpapan Health Office, meanwhile, reported that more than 2,000 people had
been diagnosed with upper-respiratory tract infections due to the haze. By
comparison 1,300 people were recorded with the same diagnosis in September.
Sutopo said
his office was working with local authorities on various fire-fighting efforts,
including on the ground and through aerial water drops.
The haze
problem has re-emerged just six months after the Riau provincial administration
lifted the emergency status imposed after last year’s haze, which was one of
the worst cases in the country in decades. The fires, burning more frequently,
are attributed largely to the slash-and-burn clearing of forests by farmers to
open up land for oil palm plantations.
Authorities
in Kalimantan, which has not been as badly hit as Sumatra, have also blamed
plantation companies for the fires. A spokesman for the East Kalimantan Police said
police were investigating the fires.
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