Choking haze shows nature can still teach us lessons

By S. Djuweng and Edi Petebang

The country is under fire. The government declared Thursday that the smoldering forest fires and the resulting haze blanketing Sumatra and Kalimantan was a natural calamity. More than 700,000 hectares of forest in Kalimantan and 11,500 more in Sumatra have been scorched. The haze, which is also affecting neighboring countries, has reduced visibility to a few feet in some areas and was a likely factor in Friday's crash of a Garuda airplane in Medan. The Jakarta Post contributors probe reasons behind this burning issue.

PONTIANAK, West Kalimantan (JP): The smoke from rampaging forest fires -- which State Minister of the Environment Sarwono Kusumaatmadja stated were endangering 20 million people -- has cast the biggest pall over this province.

Flights to and from Pontianak have been canceled for three weeks. Travel agents have halted their activities. Usually, five buses ply the route to and from Kuching, the capital of Sarawak, Malaysia, but these, too, have been temporarily discontinued.

There are plans to evacuate the 2.2 million residents of Sarawak to peninsular Malaysia following the Malaysian government's declaration of a state of emergency in Sarawak and its decision to temporarily close schools. Earlier this week, Malaysia sent a hundred firefighters to Pontianak to help bring the fires under control.

The smoke is affecting not only Sarawak, Sabah and Brunei, but also Singapore and the southern Philippines and part of Thailand. Wilfred Tangau, a resident of Sabah, said by telephone Tuesday that residents of Kota Kinabalu donned masks when venturing out of their homes.

"The situation is a bit chaotic. It's dangerous to be outside the home. I have even stopped smoking," he said.

Unlike Sarawak, the West Kalimantan provincial government only stated the province was on a state of red alert, a level below state of emergency. School holidays started on Monday morning. People know the airport and travel agencies are closed, but it seems they are not well informed about the situation.

In Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, it was reported that 20 students had collapsed. Health authorities in Pontianak disclosed that the number of people visiting private clinic and hospital reached 4,000 per day. Major hospitals in Pontianak are full. In some wards, patient numbers are exceed the capacity level. Santo Antonius Hospital is preparing mattresses for children.

Pontianak Mayor R.A. Siregar said the air pollution level is 1,890.3 micrograms per cubic meter, which is far above the tolerable level. He urged people to wear masks; asked parents to prevent their children from playing in the open air or sending their offspring to school; instructed all drivers to turn on their headlights; and told them to monitor closely announcements from the authorities.

Masks are sold on the streets by vendors also wearing masks. A simple mask usually sells for Rp 200, but the price has increased to Rp 500. Those of better quality can cost up Rp 2,500 each.

Streets are dead at night. There are few visitors to the discotheques, pubs, karaoke bars and restaurants still open.

Some tourists trapped in Pontianak said they were annoyed. "I would not have come to Kalimantan had I known the situation was this bad," said Australian Cameron Bell.

He had traveled in the interior areas of the island for several months but was waylaid by the haze when he returned to Pontianak.

Losses may be staggering and unprecedented in their scope. From the standpoint of nature, it could take at least 35 years for the trees to regenerate.

Costs to people are also huge. If each of the 20 million people spent an average of Rp 10,000 on health care, then at least Rp 200 billion would be lost in medical costs.

Airlines, travel agencies and bus companies have seen their business plummet. The provincial government, restaurants and entertainment firms must deal with huge decreases in tourism revenue.

This is bitterly ironic as the local government had set a target to achieve 10.9 percent economic growth.

Last week, a group of students demonstrated against the head of the provincial office of plantations, Karsan Sukardi, for his statement in the local Akcaya newspaper that traditional farmers were to blame. Demonstrators called themselves the Forum for Supporting President Soeharto's Statement on Smoke, referring to the President's announcement that the natural disaster was due to land clearing for industrial plantations, estates and transmigration sites.

Students demanded Karsan apologize to traditional farmers or be brought before the customary court.

Miden Maniamas, a traditional Kanyatan Dayak chief, said he had never seen a disaster like the haze in his 58 years.

"This is unusual. I reject any suggestion that the smoke is caused by Dayak farmers. We know how to control fires when we burn our land," he told Kalimantan Review.

Some might snicker at the indigenous Dayak's belief in nature's great spirit. The Dayak believe every living thing has a spirit: land, rivers, stones, trees and forests and human beings. Above them all is the "Spirit of Spirits".

Everything thus has the same right to exist. If human beings are to use other objects for their own ends, Dayak believe they have to apply for permission from the Spirit of Spirits, and this must be done in the form of ritual ceremonies.

Modern people do not hear the falling of million of trees logged in Kalimantan's rain forest for different projects. They only enjoy the riches resulting from it to furnish their luxurious lifestyle.

They assume living and nonliving creatures are secondary to the concerns of humans. But the massive exploitation of forest resources has inexorably disturbed the balance of nature.

British scientist James Lovelock found the earth has the power to self regulate. The higher the biodiversity is, the more the earth regulates itself. He named his theory -- Gaea -- after the Greek earth goddess.

Massive exploitation of natural resources for the sake of high economic growth has weakened the power of the earth to regulate itself. Waste from logging companies, blocked rivers because of logging roads and erosion of the water catchment areas have all disturbed the mechanism of nature.

Worst is the clearance of primary forest to develop the timber industrial plantations and cash-crop plantation projects. All those industrial plantations plant fast-growing species, and monoculture plantation. They are easily flammable materials. A fire in one part will spread easily.

The Dayak believe everything in the world can be used to fulfill the basic needs of human beings. But that does not give people the right to do anything they wish. This basic principle has been made concrete in what is known as Customary Laws. These govern all aspects of people's lives.

The greedy are not aware of their negative attitude towards the environment. At the same time, the environment has no mouth to protest. When NGO activists warn that massive exploitation endangers our planet, they are accused of opposing development and defying the authorities.

The haze disaster shows that uncontrolled exploitation of natural resources also endangers human beings. Nature may be silent, but it can still teach us lessons.

S. Djuweng is director of the Institute of Dayakology Research and Development (IDRD) and Edi Petebang is managing editor of Kalimantan Review, a monthly journal published by IDRD.