Evacuations likely due to hazardous haze in Sumatra

Evacuations likely due to hazardous haze in Sumatra

JAKARTA (JP): While claiming that they have successfully
contained the spread of forest fires, officials admitted that
evacuations maybe necessary in some areas along the Riau and
North Sumatra provincial border due to hazardous haze.

The head of the Center of Environmental Readiness and
Emergency Action at the Environmental Management Agency
(Bappedal), Antung Deddy, told The Jakarta Post in a telephone
interview on Tuesday that the standard air pollution index (ISPU)
in some areas had reached alarming levels.

"The main locations are the west of Dumai, between Sintong and
Labuhanbatu and north of Daludalu," Antung said of the
concentration of forest fires.

He pointed out that on Saturday the standard air pollution
index (ISPU) reached a very dangerous level of 397.

"That means that residents must get ready to use masks,"
Antung said.

He warned that if in the next few days rains do not fall and
there are no signs of the fires subsiding, residents may have to
be evacuated.

But Antung also noted that with the recent efforts there was
no sign of an escalation of the fires.

Due to the south-west monsoon surface winds, the haze from the
fires has also been pushed into neighboring Singapore and
Malaysia.

Antung said the fires started in early July and began to
spread on July 9.

He estimates that the fires spread after burning was used to
clear land. He claims that about two-thirds of the fires were
caused by land clearing by locals and the rest by plantation
companies and industrial plant forest companies (HTI).

Antung admitted that in the past there had been a lack of
evidence to bring the guilty parties of the illegal burning-off
process to court.

But this time, Bapedal and the coordination teams in Jakarta
and Sumatra have found proof, he remarked.

"There has been an agreement between Bappedal, the Attorney
General's Office, Police and the Ministry of Forestry and
Plantations to take action against the alleged suspects. Soon,
the dossiers will be given to the Attorney General's Office and
the case will be taken to court," Antung said.

In an earlier statement the agency said "there are intensive
actions in processing four cases of the burning of forest and
land which occurred early March in Riau".

Bappedal has also earlier stated that Malaysia was partially
responsible for the spreading of haze in the Southeast Asia
region.

"The contagion of smoke in the Malaysian peninsula does not
only derive from Indonesia, but also from the contribution of
Malaysia," Bappedal said in a statement signed by executive
secretary Sunyoto.

It cited Malaysia's "contribution" as nine percent.

The agency also urged the Ministry of Forestry and Plantations
to deploy helicopters in the monitoring of the fires. (prb/09)