SBY's first distress call<\/p>\n
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) has received his
\nfirst telephone call from Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad
\nBadawi, offering this country's assistance in dealing with the
\nrepetitive haze that distresses Malaysians every year. This sort
\nof show could not have been staged every dry season had the
\ncentral and regional governments of Sumatra and Kalimantan
\nstarted campaigning to prevent their estates and forests from
\nbeing burned as early as April or May, at the same time enforcing
\nthe law against perpetrators.<\/p>\n
This \"distress\" phone call for SBY should be the first and the
\nlast, as such forest fires have been inherited from his
\npredecessors, the biggest of which occurred in 1997-1998 at the
\ncost of approximately US$9 billion, hitting almost all of the
\nSoutheast Asia region (The Jakarta Post, Aug. 15). So far, there
\nhave not been concrete measures taken as to how a recurrence of
\nthese forest fires can be halted.<\/p>\n
The lack of seriousness shown by his predecessors in dealing
\nwith these forest fires must not be repeated by SBY's government,
\nas the disruptions to social and economic activities are severe.<\/p>\n
Malaysian haze haters' disappointment is understandable. They
\nvent their anger in various forms either by demonstrating in
\nfront of the Indonesian embassy in Kuala Lumpur, demanding the
\nIndonesian government to seriously deal with the fires, or going
\nonline in their websites (http:\/\/hazeinmy.blogspot.com) demanding
\nthat Indonesians stop choking them every single year (the Post,
\nAug. 12).<\/p>\n
Malaysian government's offer to help to extinguish the forest
\nfires is also understandable as their minister of forestry
\nadmitted that many Malaysian estate and wood companies operating
\nin Indonesia were among the perpetrators of the fires. Sumatran
\nand Kalimantan soil strata consists of peat soil that is highly
\ncombustible, especially during dry season.<\/p>\n
Peat soil is scientifically known as young coal made out of
\nblack or brown decaying plants that is found under the ground in
\ncool, wet, moorland regions. Once a dry spell hits such regions,
\nfire can easily take hold in the soil, and it burns both above
\nand under the ground, making such fires very difficult to put
\nout.<\/p>\n
M. RUSDI, Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/sbys-first-distress-call-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }