Late response to forest fires<\/p>\n
By Emmy Hafild<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Forest and land fires are raging again in
\nSumatra and Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
And the resulting haze is troubling Malaysia, Singapore and
\neven Thailand.<\/p>\n
It is estimated that some 20 million people have sustained
\nhealth troubles because of the haze.<\/p>\n
Unless my memory fails me, this is the third time in six years
\nthat we have had a situation like this, the preceding two being
\nin 1991 and 1994.<\/p>\n
Small fires occur every year, but since 1980s a long dry
\nseason has always brought about forest and land fires in these
\ntwo islands.<\/p>\n
Our reaction, however, is always the same.<\/p>\n
We are late to respond to the situation and tend to dismiss
\nthe possibility that the fires will gain intensity and cover
\nwider areas.<\/p>\n
Also we do not show a reaction until our neighboring countries
\nlodge embarrassing protests.<\/p>\n
What's worse now is that our neighboring countries have taken
\nthe initiative of putting out the fires.<\/p>\n
They have sent, ahead of the Indonesian government, thousands
\nof volunteer fire-fighters and fire-fighting equipment to the
\nfires.<\/p>\n
We should have had enough experience with the misery brought
\nabout by these fires.<\/p>\n
In 1982\/1983, when fires burnt 3.7 million hectares of forest
\nin East Kalimantan, millions of people suffered from the
\nextraordinary heat -- it was hot at daybreak as at 12.00 noon --
\nforcing people to flee, and causing them near starvation.<\/p>\n
Since then there have been discussions about making fire-
\nfighting equipment and aircraft available.<\/p>\n
Many seminars have been held since the 1994 smoke problem. In
\n1994 the government even went so far as to guarantee that there
\nwould be no more forest fires.<\/p>\n
In those years the Indonesian Environmental Forum (WALHI) took
\npart in discussions and seminars on land clearing without using
\nfire.<\/p>\n
A WALHI member group from East Kalimantan, PLASMA, was once
\ninvolved in a plan to design an Early Warning System to detect
\nfires in their earliest stages -- in cooperation with the local
\nadministration and military authorities -- under the sponsorship
\nof the German government's GTZ program through the ProLH project.<\/p>\n
The whole thing has disappeared into thin air now, however.<\/p>\n
Three years have elapsed fruitlessly. The only progress we
\nhave made is that we can monitor through satellite imaging where
\nthe hot spots are.<\/p>\n
We cannot, however, anticipate fires earlier or localize them
\nto prevent them from gutting larger areas.<\/p>\n
We have yet to learn to put out fires jointly. Nor can we
\ncontrol the conduct of timber estate companies and ensure that
\nthey will not burn forest.<\/p>\n
The government is very slow to react to and to anticipate
\nthese fires.<\/p>\n
Nor is there any anticipation of how to handle problems
\nrelated to community health problems arising from the smoke.<\/p>\n
No masks are readily available.<\/p>\n
There is no effort to disseminate information about smoke-
\nrelated health hazards.<\/p>\n
And community health centers, especially in rural areas, are
\nnot prepared to treat smoke-affected patients.<\/p>\n
Masks are scarce now in Pontianak, Banjarmasin, Palangkaraya
\nJambi and Riau.<\/p>\n
If this is happening in cities. What about rural areas? Where
\ncan rural people get masks and medical treatment?<\/p>\n
Early in March this year the Meteorological and Geophysical
\nAgency made public its forecast of a prolonged dry season.<\/p>\n
In the very same month State Minister of Environmental Affairs
\nSarwono Kusumaatmadja warned the public that forest fires and
\nfamine were likely. The first forest fire was detected in mid
\nJuly.<\/p>\n
At the end of July Sarwono said forest fires were gutting
\ngreater areas. Malaysia and Singapore felt the effects of the
\nsmoke in early August. Flights began to be disturbed early that
\nmonth too.<\/p>\n
The question is, why did we only take concrete action toward
\nputting out the fires only in the third week of September?<\/p>\n
How could this be?<\/p>\n
Did our decision makers fail to see the urgency of this matter
\nbecause the smoke had not yet reached Jakarta?<\/p>\n
During all this time only Sarwono was clamoring about the
\nmatter, and he had no authority to mobilize resources to put out
\nthe fires.<\/p>\n
Some government officials even went so far as to deny that the
\nfires could cause disasters.<\/p>\n
They were busy making statements confidently saying that we
\nwere ready to manage the fires, and that food supplies were
\nadequate, and that rice harvests would go ahead undisturbed.<\/p>\n
Some even refused to agree that the fires were attributable to
\nlogging companies.<\/p>\n
They insisted that El Nino was the culprit.<\/p>\n
It is worth asking whether or not we have learned to prepare
\nourselves for El Nino, because we have been feeling its impact at
\nintervals over the last fifteen years.<\/p>\n
Besides, can't we anticipate El Nino a long time in advance?
\nOr, perhaps, one may wonder, our indifference all this time stems
\nfrom our unwillingness to see the truth, our arrogance or indeed
\nour own ignorance.<\/p>\n
If we had learned from our experiences in 1982, 1987, 1991 and
\n1994, we should have been well prepared for this El Nino and the
\nstory would have taken a different course.<\/p>\n
If that had been the case, after the 1994 fires we would have
\nconducted large-scale campaigns on the hazardous impact of smoke
\non health across the country.<\/p>\n
We would have conducted these campaigns on television or
\nthrough health and agricultural counselors and community health
\ncenters just as we have done with our nation-wide family planning
\nand immunization drives.<\/p>\n
We would have disseminated information on the ban on large-
\nscale forest burning.<\/p>\n
And, we would also have established fire-fighting units
\ncomprising the government, the community and private companies.<\/p>\n
We would have established an early warning system, under which
\nthe community, companies and the government would join forces to
\nmonitor the likelihood of forest fires.<\/p>\n
Local people and administrations would then keep an eye on
\nestate and timber estate companies as well as transmigrants
\nduring land clearing.<\/p>\n
We would also have mobilized funds to purchase and modify old
\naircraft, for example, bombers formerly used in World War II, the
\nDakotas and others, so that they could be used to carry water
\nbombs to put out forest fires, as in California.<\/p>\n
We would also have bought thousands of water bombs, which can
\nbe readily used the moment a fire outbreak is spotted.<\/p>\n
If we had been truly committed to handling this matter back in
\n1994, we would now be in the midst of our Standard Operating
\nProcedure, which would effectively combat forest fires as early
\nas possible.<\/p>\n
If all the above was up and running, we would have everything
\nat our disposal so that when the Meteorological and Geophysical
\nAgency warned of a prolonged dry season, all systems would be
\nactivated instantly.<\/p>\n
Aircraft would be alerted and water bombs dispatched to
\nprovinces prone to forest fires.<\/p>\n
Fire-fighting volunteers would be ready round the clock. As
\nsoon as a hot spot was found, local resources would be mobilized
\nto extinguish the fire.<\/p>\n
Should they fail, national resources would be mobilized.
\nShould the fires persist, then international help would be
\nsought.<\/p>\n
If we had had everything ready, we would not be the center of
\nworld attention now. We would not be the object of our
\nneighboring countries' fury and would certainly not be shamed as
\nwe are now.<\/p>\n
Our people would not have sustained losses because of canceled
\nflights and forest fires, because this would not have happened.<\/p>\n
We would not be seen as a nation indifferent to environmental
\ndamage nor a nation failing to see its environmental problems --
\nwhose impacts have crossed country borders.<\/p>\n
Neither would we be perceived as a nation incapable of
\nhandling our own problems.<\/p>\n
Hopefully, in three years, when El Nino comes again, we will
\nhave changed our attitude.<\/p>\n
The writer is Director of the Indonesian Environmental Forum
\n(WALHI)<\/p>",
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